The Queer Fam Pride Jam is returning in June to kick off Pride Month and the Chicago House Music Festival.
The family-friendly LGBTQ+ Pride festival, which drew hundreds of queer people of all ages last year, happens 10 a.m.-1 p.m. June 2 at Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph St., and will seamlessly transition into the Chicago House Music Festival until 9 p.m.
Returning for its second year, the Queer Fam Pride Jam will feature dance lessons, makeovers, DJ sets, drag performances and more. The event is a collaboration between Slo ‘Mo, the longstanding queer dance party, and Kido, the beloved South Loop children’s boutique.
“We are so excited to be back,” said Kristen Kaza, co-founder of Slo ‘Mo. “Being able to build on what we accomplished last year and help it grow so that more people can attend and be a part of it feels amazing.”
New to the Pride Jam this year is its celebrity host, Canada’s Drag Race winner Priyanka, who is starring on the new season of HBO’s We’re Here. Jules, a singer for the viral “Ms. Rachel” YouTube series, will also be involved, leading families in a sing-along.
Visitors can also participate in vogue dance lessons taught by Fabulous Freddie, Kaza said. Boogie McClarin, who taught house dance lessons at last year’s Pride Jam, will also return.
The Pride Jam’s makers market is also back, featuring a range of LGBTQ+-owned small businesses. A cash bar will serve food and drinks—alcoholic and non-alcoholic.1
The activities will culminate into a participatory Pride Procession from the Pride Jam’s tent on the North Promenade to the Pritzker Pavilion, where DJ Lori Branch, a trailblazing queer woman and Chicago LGBT Hall of Famer, will kick off the House Music Festival.
“We’re imagining our own Pride Parade where everything from the day comes together,” Kaza said. “The kids will have noise-makers they made throughout the day, be decked out from the drag makeovers and have those dance moves from the dance lessons. And then we’ll kick off the House Music Fest.”
Kaza said there is a lot of synergy between the Pride Jam and the House Music Festival, given that Black and Brown LGBTQ+ people were pioneers of the genre and have helped carry it over the years.
Additionally, bridging the two events is a full-circle moment for Kaza, who was going to be involved in planning part of the House Music Festival’s first iteration in 2020, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I remember walking into a meeting at the Chicago Cultural Center to plan some intentional LGBTQ+-centered programming for the festival, and then everything shut down right after,” Kaza said. “It’s exciting to be doing what I set out to accomplish four years ago, but now I have so much more life experience. I’m a mom now, so there’s a completely new context to how I’m approaching this.”
The Pride Jam’s co-organizers—Kaza and Keewa Nurullah, owner of Kido—united last year after noticing a dearth of events that center LGBTQ+ families and wanting to fill that void.
With Kido, Nurullah aims to create inclusive events celebrating people from diverse cultures and backgrounds. Creating an event like the Pride Jam is also personal for Nurullah, whose mother is an out lesbian, she said.
“When I was growing up, I felt very isolated even just in the experience of having a queer parent,” Nurullah said. “And I don’t want any kids to feel that way. That’s why it’s so important to have these kinds of spaces where queer families can connect and be celebrated.”
Last year’s Pride Jam drew hundreds of families from within Chicago and across state lines to the Salt Shed in September after being rescheduled from June. Mayor Brandon Johnson also made an appearance, giving a speech on LGBTQ+ inclusion before the drag performances.
Allies are also invited to the party, Kaza said.
“Allyship is so incredibly crucial to this event and to the movement of LGBTQ+ family-making, celebration and acceptance,” Kaza said. “We need allies to be here, standing shoulder to shoulder with us in support.”