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Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
At the 2025 Nashville Pride Festival, show up where others have stepped back
In Middle Tennessee, Pride has always been more than a celebration — it's a homecoming. It's a season when our city bursts with joy, resilience and love. When music fills the air, color transforms the streets, and community stands shoulder to shoulder in its boldest form. And this year, the spirit matters more than ever. 2025 has brought its challenges. Like many organizations, we are facing financial setbacks due to the loss of several longtime supporters. These challenges have left us with a significant budget gap at a time when our visibility, safety and celebration matter more than ever. Still, we remain committed to delivering the kind of Pride our community deserves: joyful, powerful and rooted in purpose. More: Nashville Pride Festival announces 2025 lineup: Kim Petras, 4 Non Blondes, Big Freedia Pride has never been about convenience. It's about conviction. And in a year where LGBTQ+ rights are being debated, targeted and legislated against, our joy is an act of resistance. Our visibility is a protest. And our gathering — louder, brighter and braver than ever — is a promise to our community: We are still here. Formally since 1988, Nashville Pride has existed at the intersection of celebration and protest. What began as a small picnic has grown into one of the largest Pride events in the South — held in the shadow of the State Capitol and the glow of Broadway. It's a space where love is loud, joy is justice, and every person belongs. This year, the 2025 Nashville Pride Festival & Parade will welcome over 240 vendors and a record number of participants in the parade. There will be local businesses, community organizations and nonprofits, as well as new and returning sponsors who have said 'yes' when it mattered most. Their support reminds us that Pride doesn't shrink in the face of pressure. It expands. It adapts. It rises. If you've ever felt the magic of Pride — a shared glance, a burst of laughter, a moment of finally feeling seen — this is the year to lean in. To march with purpose. To stand a little taller. To celebrate even louder. Buy a ticket. Make a donation. Sign up to volunteer. Become a sponsor. Show up where others have stepped back. In a year marked by retreat, your support isn't just meaningful — it's vital. This is not the time to stand on the sidelines. This is the time to show up for our city, our future and each other. Pride isn't about perfection. It's about persistence. It's about choosing hope over fear, and presence over silence. More: Why Tennessee ranks as high risk for gay and transgender people It's about showing up — not just when it's easy, but especially when it's not. Pride belongs to all of us. And this year, it needs every one of us. Join us as the 2025 Nashville Pride celebration kicks off with the first-ever Friday Night Concert on June 27 at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park. The Pride Parade steps off at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 28, beginning at Broadway and 8th Ave. And the Pride Festival continues June 28-29 at Bicentennial Park. Let's keep marching, keep dancing, and keep building a future where everyone is free to live, love, and thrive — right here in Tennessee. The Nashville Pride Board of Directors leads the organization's year-round efforts to serve and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community across Middle Tennessee. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville needs your help to celebrate Pride Month | Opinion
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Roots, Soccer Mommy, and More Lead 2025 SummerStage Concerts Across NYC
New York City's sprawling outdoor performing arts festival is back. The Roots, Soccer Mommy, Big Freedia, Camilo, Bob Sinclair, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and more lead this year's Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage with more than 70 shows in 13 parks across all five boroughs. According to a press release, this 39th season will feature a lengthy list of 'stars, taste-makers, and artists whose work defines our culture.' The event promises to showcase 'everything from salsa, jazz, hip-hop, indie-rock, dance, opera, pop, and soul,' while celebrating 'the diversity of our City, presenting emerging and well-known artists, genre-defining talents, powerhouse women, and international heavyweights.' More from Rolling Stone Janelle Monáe, the Roots, Jacob Collier Lead Stacked Newport Jazz Fest Lineup The Corruption Case Against Eric Adams Has Been Dropped ... With Prejudice Andrew Cuomo's Expensive Taxpayer-Funded Revenge Campaign 'I am thrilled to announce our 2025 SummerStage lineup, a stellar reflection of what makes our festival so unique and beloved,' said Heather Lubov, Executive Director of City Parks Foundation, in a statement. 'The huge variety of artists we're presenting and the parks where we're located reflect our city's demographic and cultural diversity, but they also serve to unite us as neighbors and as lovers of music, regardless of our differences.' Neighborhood parks hosting SummerStage this year include Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, Tompkins Square Park in the East Village, Herbert Von King Park and The Coney Island Amphitheater in Brooklyn, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, St. Mary's Park and Crotona Park in the Bronx, Stapleton Waterfront Park on Staten Island, and SummerStage's flagship venue Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. While there will be ticketed benefit concerts in Central Park, the rest of the performances will be free and open to the public. Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Axios
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
After permit dispute, Bayou Boogaloo returns for 2025
Bayou Boogaloo will return to Bayou St. John this weekend, filling the waterway and the neighborhood with eager local music fans. Why it matters: Until last week, the festival's return wasn't a sure thing. Catch up quick: Bayou Boogaloo was founded in 2005 as a fundraiser to support maintenance along the Mid-City waterway. But for years, organizers and local leaders have fielded complaints from some who live near the event's location along Bayou St. John. Those complaints tend to focus on parking issues, the fencing the festival installs for its event weekend, and trash buildup in the neighborhood. By this year's event, Councilman Joe Giarrusso told The Times-Picayune, he's gotten "more parking and ticketing complaints from Bayou Boogaloo than Jazz Fest." The intrigue: A hold had been placed on the annual event's permit as neighbors and event organizers hashed out plans to address safety and neighborhood concerns, according to a statement released by Giarrusso on May 9. "No decision with Bayou Boogaloo happened overnight or in a vacuum," Giarrusso said. "We have met and talked with the festival and neighbors for years." State of play: With the permit approved for 2025's festival, the location of future Bayou Boogaloo events is still murky. "Given the ongoing conversations, there will be a meeting this summer for anyone interested in discussing the festival," Giarrusso said in a statement. If you go: The game is on for this weekend's event, May 16-18. Tickets. The fest includes music spread across three stages with headliners Honey Island Swamp Band, Big Freedia, and 420 Funk Mob ft. members of Parliament Funkadelic. Vendors hawking food, drinks, and arts and crafts will be there, too. And don't forget your kayaks or giant pool floaties. Attendees can catch the tunes — and the breeze — from the bayou. Boating rules.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
SXSW Music faces major cutbacks as festival slashes performance days for 2026
South by Southwest Festival and Conference (SXSW) organizers are reportedly scaling back the music portion of the festival, shortening the 2026 edition by two days. According to the Austin American-Statesman, next year's event will run from March 12-18 instead of the usual full week, marking the first time in the event's history that the weekend traditionally dedicated to music performances and conferences has been eliminated. Trending SXSW 2025's REVOLT HOUSE is more than just a concert — here's what you need to know The outlet further reported that the decision follows a steady decline in participation in SXSW's music festival since the 2010s, when the number of performing bands peaked at around 2,000. This year, only 1,012 acts took the stage. Meanwhile, SXSW's film and television segments have gained prominence. This year, the likes of Michelle Obama, who recorded a podcast with her brother, Craig Robinson, and Issa Rae were among the stars attending premieres of their projects. Since the article was initially published, a spokesperson responded to the news by revealing that the festival's music arm will actually see an increase. 'SXSW 2026 will feature one more night of music as showcases will take place throughout the entire event, with seven nights of shows instead of six,' stated VP of Communications Lillian Park. This year's musical lineup included Khalid, Big Freedia and Jurassic 5's Soup. REVOLT also hosted its popular REVOLT HOUSE event at Austin's Vulcan Gas Company, featuring performances from artists like LaRussell and 310babii and interactive experiences like Hip Hop Trivia and Blind Living Room Karaoke. Veteran music journalist Andy Langer, who has attended SXSW since its 1987 launch, noted in a widely shared Facebook post, 'For years, it's been impossible not to notice how parking woes, hotel prices [and] traffic... drop off considerably when SXSW Music begins. The town empties out considerably the Wednesday [morning] after tech [and] film ends.' He also pointed to dwindling sponsorships, economic uncertainty and the music arm's decreasing relevance as an industry event as key factors in its decline. Langer described this year's festival as 'a snack-sized SXSW with feather-light crowds' and suggested that the music portion lost its utility as high-profile artists and industry professionals increasingly opt out. Next year's SXSW will also face logistical changes as the Austin Convention Center, its longtime home, closes in April for a four-year renovation. During that period, the festival will be held at various locations across the city. Penske Media Corporation (PMC), which invested in SXSW in 2021, continues to expand the festival's global reach. After launching in Australia in 2023, SXSW will make its London debut this June.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rema Riles Up a Rowdy Crowd of Afrobeats Lovers To Close Out Rolling Stone's Future of Music Showcase
While Houston is the Texas town better known to serve Afrobeats lovers, Rema fans flocked to Austin for his headlining set that closed out Rolling Stone's Future of Music showcase. Rappers Samara Cyn and Anycia, who took the stage before him, couldn't contain their excitement for Rema's show either — hyping the crowd up for his appearance after hers, Anycia joked that they might find her on the floor with them. From the time the Atlanta upstart closed with her Latto-assisted banger 'Back Outside' to the moment Rema's welcome video filled the massive screens, the Moody Theater steadily filled with eager and diverse attendees — cliques of girls filming each other, men ready to mosh, and everyone in between. Midwestern MC AJ McQueen put on a set of lyrically dexterous hip-hop, heavy on his very strong latest album, Sorry Ma, I Was Distracted. McQueen has said he 'grew up in two bad parts of St. Louis' and has described Sorry Ma as his 'origin story.' Speaking of ma: Backstage, McQueen talked about buying his mom a home in St. Louis. More from Rolling Stone The Best of SXSW Day Three: Big Freedia, Lily Seabird, Sunflower Bean, and More Ivan Cornejo Gets Fans Into Their Feelings During Future of Music Showcase Night Three Willie Nelson's 2025 Luck Reunion Was Like No Place on Earth Tennessee-born, L.A.-based rapper Samara Cyn later took the stage for a set that drew from her 2024 album The Drive Home, which Rolling Stone's Andre Gee has praised as 'a diaristic project' that shows off how Cyn's winding life path — she's lived a nomadic existence — 'inculcated her with adaptability and open-mindedness.' Cyn is one of the most hotly hyped talents in hip-hop right now. Backstage before the performance, she talked about how honored she was to be invited onstage by Lauryn Hill at a Miami show last weekend: 'That experience was top-tier… I'm still reeling.' She added that while she loves The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, 'It wasn't until I heard her MTV Unplugged that I fell in love with her music… It was just so raw and bare and beautiful and human. That's really the basis of when I started rapping.' Next up, Anycia hyped up the crowd, sometimes with specific compliments ('You so fuckin' pretty, talk about a face, baby,' she told one fan) and generally kept the energy extremely high. Her set, like her very good 2024 mixtape Princess Pop That, showed off a brashness and confidence that's ATL to the core — and all about being herself. Then, it was time for Rema. 'Africa is the future of music because it's unique and it knows no boundary,' he said in his intro clip, filmed on the set of his Future of Music cover shoot. The issue makes him the first Black African solo star to be featured on the cover and the first Afrobeats act to earn the distinction in the magazine's history. 'I feel the sense of Africa in everything, and I feel like this is just the beginning. There's so much more that we're here to express. I'm grateful to represent Afrobeats.' After the video cut, Rema's DJ Jumbee brought in a track of intense drums and guitar fit for a rockstar, with fierce blue and silver lights frantically flashing to match. Rema smoothly sauntered up the stage's stairs and towards the center of it under a halo of spotlight, shrouded in a heavy coat and thick jeans as if it hadn't been in the 90s all day — hey, when you're cool, you're cool. As the first notes of 'March Am,' the menacing intro to his critically acclaimed sophomore album Heis, rang out, the screen that boasted his demure interview turned into a dark sky exploding with bats, symbols Rema has adopted as a relic of his hometown of Benin City, Nigeria. 'Every evening, there's always bats in the sky, just flying to their cave. Early in the morning, around 5 a.m., they all fly to the Oba palace, the king's palace, which is quite spiritual,' he said in a previous interview with Rolling Stone. 'In other cities, it is quite scary for them to just see bats in the sky, but, yeah, it is normal in Benin.' (Bats are also a familiar part of life in Austin, in a nice parallel.) He closed out the Heis opening numbers with the party starter 'Yayo,' before honoring his invitation to the Future of Music showcase with one caveat: 'Shout out Rolling Stone, I love each and every one of y'all that came out to be here tonight,' he said, before reminding the crowd, 'You know how it goes though — when Rema's onstage, it's a Rema party.' The sea of ardent fans answered his call to repeat his tagline, too. 'When I say 'Another,' you say….' he led. 'Banger!' they exclaimed. Though 'March Am' is a high-energy track, Rema made sure to let the momentum build steadily — the last hook clearly resonated with him as he stomped his foot and slapped his leg to his staccato bars. He was joined by an array of dancers in baggy tuxes and bright white tennis shoes, who then crowded him for 'Azaman,' armed with throwback corded phones that complemented their bouncy choreography. 'Call azaman,' Rema cries over and over in that song, a flex in Nigerian pidgin for how much money he has on demand; the phones were a quirky play on the phrase. 'I dey find money like say na Shazam,' he teases on the track (Translation: 'I get money so easily, it's like I'm just Shazaming it and it appears.') Rema slinked in and out of the varied vibes he's curated over his six years in the limelight. He shed his coat and teased fans with peeks at his abs to complement sexy singles like his remix of Darkoo's 'Favourite Girl'(one of Rolling Stone's top Afropop songs of 2024), his debut 'Dumebi' ('If you know you're in the crowd tonight and you been rocking with me since day one, 2019 make some noise!' he beckoned), and 'Soundgasm.' That one, he revealed in his cover story, was a special kind of gift for a former lover. 'I recorded that on Valentine's Day. So that was a very freaky day for everybody,' he said. For 'Soundgasm,' Rema was flanked by a dancer with long platinum hair who moved like she could top the bill at one of Houston's iconic strip clubs if she wanted to. She was joined by a just-as-talented colleague for the super-powered party song 'Bounce.' Later, things got sentimental for his record-breaking hit 'Calm Down,' the crowd welcoming it to the set with a roar that vibrated through the theater. And while that song is one of Afrobeats' biggest crossover hits ever, he honored his roots with dexterous footwork for the hometown anthem 'Benin Boys,' complimented by bright graphics that resembled the city's famous bronzes — historic sculptures pillaged by Europeans in colonial warfare that those far-off nations still hold in their museums. (In his cover story, Rema told Rolling Stone that supporting local politicians' efforts to get the bronzes back to Benin City is a priority of his.) To close out his electric set, the mosh-ready men got what they came for when Rema summoned the dark energy of 'Ozeba,' a Heis hit modeled after a Nollywood horror film. 'If you wanna take off your shoes, take off your shoes,' he said before it, 'If you wanna take off your wig, take off your wig.' While shoes and wigs seemed to remain mostly intact, the crowd took the spirit of the invite to heart, jumping, screaming, and sweating to the sound of an Afrobeats visionary. Launch Gallery: Rolling Stone's Future of Music Showcase 2025: See the Photos Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
