Since its rebirth in 2013, September’s Tower Grove Pride has been a dearly anticipated cap to STL’s summer Pride festivities. What started as a fête champêtre of neighbors and friends from Tower Grove Park’s surrounding villes sharing a meal and a dance and perusing a handful of artists’ tents has blossomed over the ensuing years.
Now in its thirteenth year, Tower Grove Pride sports a repertoire of more than four hundred local artists, crafters, nonprofits and businesses; three stages packed with St. Louis’s best musicians, dancers, drag performers, and burlesquarians; a trio of food courts exemplifying St. Louis’s culinary cultural breadth; and a host of outdoor TGP events that will have you strolling, rolling, scritching, cruising, bumping and, yes, grinding through gorgeous Tower Grove Park.
STROLLING
Photo credit: Alecia Hoyt
Looking to escape the heat beneath Tower Grove Park’s seven thousand trees? Start your weekend with Drag Storytime featuring Celia, Marcella S Devereaux, and Beth Saltzz at the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market (Saturday, 10am at Center Cross Drive, Red area – west) and then head over to Pride for the opening festivities.
Invest in a couple special pieces of delightfully queer art that will nourish your soul over the coming years, and pay a visit to some of the 150 local nonprofit organizations working to create lasting community in STL.
Snag a nosh from some of the thirty food vendors clustered throughout the festival’s Main Drive loops. On the menu: Thai, pizza, vegan, Mexican, Central American, South American, Mediterranean, bubble tea, BBQ, baked goods, and more. Make sure to grab a blanket and your favorite (furry) companions to enjoy your repast.
Vibe to some of the more than thirty musical acts booked for the Humbolt Circle Greens (Orange area – west) and Sons of Rest Pavillion (Purple area – east) stages; STL icons Band Together and Charis will be getting the mornings started. Make new friends and do it all again… In its bones, Tower Grove Pride weekend is about slowing down, allowing connection to happen, and nourishing it.
Photo credit: Alicia Hoyt
ROLLING
Hoping to reunite with your long-estranged roller derby crew after all the drama between Kelsey and Chelsea? Dust off your daisy dukes, grab your skates (or rent some on-site) and show off that Flamingo Stall at the DJed free skate (Saturday & Sunday, 11am-4pm, Green area – north) run by the quintessentially queer and inclusive STL institution Skate Culture. Just make sure you’re off the rink before Maven Lee clears the floor for a Ball, or you may find yourself the unwitting recipient of tens, tens, tens across the board.
Photo credit: Alicia Hoyt
SCRITCHING
The pets of Tower Grove Pride know that they’re the parade we came for. If you’re looking to help your favorite furry pal (two-legged or four) look and feel extra dapper, stop by the more than twenty specialty pet vendors focused around the south Green area loop. And if instead you’ve already bought an entire wardrobe of aspirational rainbow-clad pup outfits and now just need the pooch to fill them, talk to one of the many pet rescue and adoption specialists nearby about helping with foster and forever-home opportunities.
Photo credit: Irene Kinghorn
CRUISING
If Tower Grove Pride is the heart of a community, then its beat is the People’s Joy Parade. Beginning Sunday at 1pm and winding its way east-to-west through the Main Drive thoroughfare, the walking parade is momentous and unmissable, wild and wistful, and if you see it, you’re in it. Organized by the Fourth City Sisters and including accompaniment by JOIA: World Percussion, Dance Hypnotique, and Celia Shack Attack, the parade is as much a dance celebration as it is a protest action as it is a community art project. See and be seen: plan an elaborate outfit or a personal float and get in on the fun!
Photo credit: Alecia Hoyt
BUMPING
All of this art and friendship is great and everything, but where’s the glory? If you and your mates have been tearing up your rec-league volleyball league, go for gold at the Tower Grove Pride Volleyball Tournament (Saturday, 9am, Yellow area – north), organized by McGuire Total Wellness. The tournament this year will have both Power 4’s and Intermediate 6’s formats; pre-registration is required, with proceeds benefitting TGP but bragging rights resting firmly with the victors. And if you happen to prefer your sports a little more slow-paced and cocktail-compliant, check out the all-weekend Croquet Court sponsored by the Tower Grove South Neighborhood Association
(Purple area – east).
Photo credit: Irene Kinghorn
GRINDING
“A revolution without dancing is not a revolution worth having,” Emma Goldman wisely declared. And dancing without revolution is just as terrible. So jiggle it loose, because the TGP lineup of DJs, musicians, noise artists, and drag personae is legendary. The list of performers for the main stages are growing all the time, so check in on the Tower Grove Pride digital festival guide to stay up to date on everything the festival has to offer.
Photo credit: Alicia Hoyt
