LOS ANGELES – The Night On Broadway celebration in downtown Los Angeles will have an LGBTQ stage with live music and performances and a bar garden.
The massive, free arts and music festival, in its fourth year, will take over a one-mile stretch of historic Broadway between First Street and Olympic Boulevard from 3 p.m. to midnight Saturday.
Night on Broadway organizers are expecting more than 75,000 people at the event, which is from 3 p.m. to midnight Saturday.
ROAD CLOSURES
- Broadway from Second to Eighth streets will close Friday 6 p.m.
- Broadway from Temple Street to Second Street and from Eighth Street to Olympic Boulevard will close Friday 6 p.m.
- First, Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth streets from Hill to Spring streets will close Friday 7 p.m.
- Second, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth streets from Hill to Spring streets will close Friday 10 p.m.
- All roads will re-open Sunday at noon.
QUEER BLOCK PARTY
The LGBTQ block party is organized by DTLA Proud, which also organizes the annual August party that celebrates downtown’s queer community and businesses, and will be staged near the intersection of Fourth Street and Broadway.
The area is appropriate since downtown and the Pershing Square area are home to three gay bars: Bar Mattachine, Precinct, and Redline.
DTLA QUEER HISTORY
From the 1920s to the 1960s, Pershing Square was the center of “The Run,” a large collection of gay friendly cafes, bars, and cruising areas along the Fifth Street corridor, stretching from the Los Angeles Central Library to Los Angeles Street. The Fifth Street corridor was so populated with gay establishments, that during World War II, the Army and Navy distributed a list of over 30 establishments along Fifth and Main Streets where service members were forbidden to go due to their notoriety as queer venues.
LGBTQ STAGE, BEER GARDEN
The DTLA Proud stage will include live music and performances:
- The Hound
- Pickle
- Tito Soto
- Joseph Eid
- Men in Heels LA
- Jesse Alvarado’s New Jalisco Extravaganza Show
Several DJs are scheduled to spin in the beer garden:
- Josh Peace
- Sindri Salad
- DJ Addiction
- David Banjela
Revelers at last year’s Night On Broadway celebration. This year’s party in downtown Los Angeles will have an LGBTQ stage with live music and performances and a bar garden. Photo: DTLA Proud.
