For the past nine years, Chinese mainland's largest and longest-running Pride festival has lit up the city every June with parties and community events, including a bevy of art, music and theater that grows in scope every year. Here are the highlights for Pride9.
1. Pride Rocks
This concert is a new addition to ShanghaiPRIDE this year and showcases local bands of diverse backgrounds and musical styles. The roster includes grunge band Vodka Slaves; Joelle Jay, a blues and country vocalist who sings about life and love in China; and Mimi (pictured), an experimental duo blending Celtic and traditional Chinese music with electronic beats.
June 16, 9pm-late, RMB70 presale, RMB100 door. M64, see event listing.
2. ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival (ShPFF)
The film festival returns for its third year to showcase queer stories of all sorts onscreen. Though the program hasn’t been finalized, past years have screened acclaimed international queer films like pioneering trans film Tangerine and tragic love story Lilting, along with the best of Chinese LGBTQ+ cinema, like 1996’s trailblazing East Palace, West Palace. The screenings all include community-building discussions and interviews. ShPFF also features the Short Film Competition, in which independent filmmakers submit their short films about the Chinese queer experience, competing for a spot in the prestigious UK Iris Prize Festival.
June 11-18, various locations. See event listing.
3. Pride Art
ShanghaiPRIDE tries a new format for their annual art exhibition, in which they will crowdsource photography from Shanghai’s LGBTQ+ community and their allies. Hoping to showcase the diversity of the queer experience in Shanghai, organizers invited anyone to submit a photo relating to Pride 9’s theme 'The Time is Now.' They will print the best ones and display them at the gallery exhibition.
June 16-25, no cover. Henkes, see event listing.
4. ShanghaiPRIDE Theater Festival (ShPTF)
This year’s thespian fest takes place throughout the month of June with both Chinese and English language offerings. Highlights include Tall Tall Mountains & Strange Birds, a coming-of-age story first performed in Beijing as part of Ibsen International’s New Text, New Stage project, which will be performed in English on June 9, and Chinese on June 10. Wow! Live Webcast (June 15-18) tells the story of four social media personalities in a brutal competition for a major contract, while Collective Rage(June 23-25) is an absurdist comedy that chronicles five women named Betty who grapple with sex, womanhood and anger while working in theater.
Until June 25, various locations
For more ShanghaiPRIDE 2017 events, click here, or visit ShanghaiPRIDE's website.
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