Fridae

"Over the past eight years, the festival has focused on love, friendship, relationships, and community,” says ShanghaiPRIDE Director, Evie Wu. “Next year will be the 10th anniversary of ShanghaiPRIDE, so the time is now to move forward and take action.”

As one of Mainland China’s largest and longest-running Pride festival, ShanghaiPRIDE is embodying this year’s theme by launching an ambitious new project: CnPRIDE, a national Pride festival involving multiple cities set to debut next year. A major goal of Pride9 this year is to raise funds and spread awareness for the inaugural CnPRIDE through its series of sports, cultural, social, and educational programs.

The festival’s highlight events are returning for Pride9, and there are some exciting new additions to watch out for. ShanghaiPRIDE Theatre Festival (ShPTF) takes to the stage throughout May and June, with English- and Chinese-language offerings. Original plays tackling relevant LGBTQ issues like coming of age and identity will be held at the Lyceum Theatre, Theatre in Tianzifang, and The Market.

To address the topical issues impacting our community today, Pride Talk at Colca on June 10 will invite 10 speakers to discuss poignant personal narratives and academic studies on gender and sexuality in an innovative format, sharing 20 presentation slides at 20 seconds per slide.

Film buffs should gear up for a queer movie marathon at this year’s ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival (ShPFF) on June 11 and 18. Screenings will take place at the Goethe Institut and The British Centre Shanghai, with the Canadian, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, and US Consulates also standing in support. In addition, filmmakers of all backgrounds will compete in the ShPFF Chinese Short Film Competition, which showcases LGBTQ Chinese stories. The winning filmmaker will go on to enter the prestigious UK Iris Prize Festival, which has a top award of £30,000.

The city’s queer ladies will have a night of their own at the annual Ladies Party on June 15 at Celia by Pulse, complete with drink deals, performances, and prizes galore.

This year’s Pride Art, a new incarnation of ShanghaiPRIDE Art and Photo Exhibition held at Henkes, invited the public to share their diverse experiences through the lens of a camera. Members of the community and allies submitted photos relating to the Pride9 theme via social media, and a selection of the photos will be featured in the gallery exhibition (June 16-25) and on shpride.com.

A rockin’ new addition to ShanghaiPRIDE, the first-ever Pride Rocks musical showcase on June 16 at M64 will invite local bands to share the Pride9 stage for a day of tunes and community-building.

An annual cornerstone of ShanghaiPRIDE, the Pride Run returns on June 17, with the Pink Brunch to follow at Andaz Xintiandi, Shanghai. Proceeds from the run will go toward Growth Group by Rainbow Anti-Gender-Based Violence Service Center in Common Language.

LGBTQ Groups Open Day & Forum on June 17 at Title Sponsor Andaz Xintiandi, Shanghai will host queer organizations from cities across China. Two forums at the allday event will discuss family matters in queer relationships, such as same-sex marriage and raising children, and LGBTQ initiatives like fighting stigmatization in school textbooks.

Pride9 will go out in 50 shades of pink at the Pink Party on June 17 at 8Art Hotel; expect dazzling performances, prizes, and partygoers proudly sporting this most delicious hue. Throughout the festival, raffle prizes will raise funds for CnPRIDE as well as the Teacher Gender Equity Education Workshop by Guangzhou Gay and Lesbian Campus Association of China.

The fun continues post-Pride with a special performance of Chinese pop classics by the Shanghai Hyperbolic Singers on June 24 at Huangpu Theatre. ShanghaiPRIDE is a longtime supporter of the LGBTQ choir, which has performed at past Pride events as well as the 2015 Red Ribbon Gala Dinner.

ShanghaiPRIDE is a non-profit, volunteer-run festival supported by this year’s Gold Sponsors: Pure Experiential Communications, Dow Chemical Company, IBM, Rainbow Rabbit, TrueBaby, Neocha, Wunderman Shanghai, and Nike+ Run Club.

Further event details and venues for Pride9 festivities will be released closer to the festival date. Pre-register for certain events and get the latest updates at shpride.com, or follow ShanghaiPRIDE’s social media channels, including WeChat (Shanghai-PRIDE), Weibo (weibo.com/shanghaipride), Facebook (facebook.com/ShanghaiPride) and Instagram (@Shanghaipride).