The Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, Destination Hastings, and Hastings Rainbow Families are excited to host the third annual Friday Night Pride, a free, joyful, family-friendly Pride festival in downtown Hastings on June 13th from 6-9pm (will move indoors in inclement weather; follow @hastingsfridaynightpride on Facebook or Instagram for announcements).
The Good Witch Coffee Bar (134 Southside Ave, Hastings-on-Hudson at the Metro North Station) will hold a pre-event from 3:45 to 5:45 with a special reading by Newbery Honor-winning children’s author Kyle Lukoff presented by Vanishing Ink Books. There will also be music and supplies out for families to contribute to a community pride banner. At 5:45, families can join in a march from The Good Witch up to Warburton Avenue to kick off the main event, led by Brass by the Slice Brass Band.
The Friday Night Pride event centers on a concert in the middle of Warburton Avenue, featuring a bevy of musicians, dancers, and performers, ranging from local talent to Broadway stars. The show will be emceed by stage and recording artist Amy Lynn of Amy Lynn & the Honey Men, who will also be performing. Other performers include Lexy Casano-Antonellis, Kat Gang, Mika Wurf, Max Boyd, Leanne Brown, Tommy Simmons the Hastings High School and Middle School choirs in collaboration with the producers/ creators of the Broadway/ West End bound musical SuperYou, the students of MK Dance, Amanda Kupillas Dance, Broadway veteran and television and film star Alison Cimmet (The Big Sick, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Jamie Karen, star of numerous Broadway and national tours, and Obie-award winner James Jackson Jr., star of Broadway’s Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning A Strange Loop. Mayor Nicola Armacost will be opening the event, and performances will be interspersed with local LGBTQIA+ community members sharing their stories.
Warburton Avenue will be lined with tables offering free activities, including a giant rainbow slide, face painting, kids’ crafts with Jodi Levine of Supermakeit.com, make-your-own spray paint art with graffiti artist Katie Reidy, a community art project with the Hastings Library, rainbow bracelet making with the Hastings-on-Hudson PTSA, dance activities with hip hop performers Brianna Luciano and Kiana Davalos, rainbow crafts with The Maker Hive, and much more. Village restaurants will be out selling dinner as well as Pride-themed specials. Westchester LGBTQIA+ organizations including The LOFT, Center Lane, Pride Works, PFLAG Westchester, and Westchester Medical Center’s Ally Care Center will all be in attendance, and local vendors will be offering rainbow cookie decorating, rainbow hair extensions, Pride flags and swag, and LGBTQIA+ books for kids and adults, among many other Pride-themed offerings. Plus drag artists Angel Elektra and Shay D’Pines will be working their way through the crowd, ready for selfies.
