Pride Month is here, but in Las Vegas the centerpiece event will have to wait until the fall: the Las Vegas Pride Festival will be held on Oct. 8 and 9.
That doesn’t mean the party won’t go on in Vegas, though. After all, it’s always “party on” in Sin City, and the LGTBQ scene is as vibrant as ever in June and beyond.
• While the Las Vegas festival is on hold until the fall, suburban Henderson is hosting its inaugural Pride Festival on June 5. Presented by the International Cultural Movement for Equality, the event will include live music and food vendors at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa. The weekend will include a Welcome Party with a Mr./Miss Gay Pride Pageant on June 4 and a drag brunch on June 6.
• Temptation Sundays at Luxor Hotel and Casino, the Strip’s only weekly LGBTQ-focused pool party, opened its 11th season last month and will run through September.
• Gold Spike in downtown Las Vegas hosts Drag Queen Bingo every second and fourth Thursday of the month. Hosts Angel Phoenix, Asia King Adour and London Adour call the letters and numbers with sass.
• Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino hosts Pride Family bingo on the first Wednesday of each month.
• Female impersonators take the stage at Senor Frog’s Drag Brunch in Treasure Island Las Vegas every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
• Flex Cocktail Lounge, east of the Strip, has been serving the LGBTQ community for more than 20 years with nightly entertainment, drink specials and Thursday-night Drag-aoke.
Also off the Strip:
• FreeZone Nightclub and Bar features upbeat music, nightly karaoke pool tables and occasional drag shows.
• The Garage, modeled after an auto body shop, has pool tables, shuffleboard and darts.
• The Garden Las Vegas, an intimate and chic lounge bar by gay nightlife guru Eduardo Cordova in downtown Las Vegas’ Arts District, hosts a drag brunch every Saturday and Sunday.
• Piranha Nightclub hosts nightly revelry. Hamburger Mary’s on East Flamingo Road is another popular spot for the LGBTQ community.
Some big events are planned for late summer, as well:
• From Aug. 25 to 30, Tuscany Suites and Casino will host Smokeout 2021, a celebration of gay men who are also cigar and pipe aficionados, bikers or leathermen. The week will include activities, excursions and parties.
• The Nevada Gay Rodeo Association’s Big Horn Rodeo will be Sept. 17 to 19 at Horseman’s Park. Events will include bull riding, cattle roping and barrel racing.
