RIOT!
The Capital Pride Official Opening Party
Friday, June 7, 2024
9:00 PM – 3:30 AM
Echostage, 2135 Queens Chapel Rd NE, Washington, DC
*Open to 18+ years of age.
Photo Credit: Ted Eytan
The Official Opening Dance Party of Capital Pride features a star-studded gender bending performance line-up including Rupaul’s Drag Race star Sapphira Cristál and an insane line up of the region’s most amazing performers: Haus of Bambi, Jaxknife Complex, King Molasses, Sapphire Dupree, Sasha Adams Sanchez, S’HE, Bumper, Da Boobie, Evry Pleasure, Mari Con Carne, Connor, and Chazmen Sonique! Combine all that with DJs Dez Jordan, Tezrah, Ed Bailey, and WessTheDJ and this is primed to be a completely remarkable experience to start off Capital Pride weekend 2024 in DC!
RIOT! is a party named in homage to the awe-inspiring efforts of our ancestors. On June 28, 1969, following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a RIOT broke out, lasting for several days. A united queer community diverse in gender identities and race, including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, unknowingly sparked a revolution of activism that would lead to the rights we have today. Now, 55 years after the RIOT that started it all, we can celebrate and dance and prance and strut, slay, death-drop, twerk, and werq, and generally be our own true selves because of the heroes who came before us. And now, faced with new efforts to criminalize our very existence, we need to rise up together again and declare “DRAG IS NOT A CRIME!” What better way to make that statement than to celebrate drag in all its forms with a performance night of epic proportions. Come join the insanity and dance the night away with thousands of your friends and chosen family!
Produced in partnership with
Purchase your tickets early as this event will sell out!
$27 – Ally (SOLD OUT!)
$37 – Activist (SOLD OUT!)
$47 – Changemaker
$50 – At the Door
*THIS EVENT IS 18+
*For fair accessibility, we ask that the lower ticket prices are reserved for those that are most in need in our community.
*No refunds or exchanges. All proceeds will go to the Capital Pride Alliance and the Pride 365 Fund.
Entertainment
We’ve stacked a line-up of both local, national, and world-famous queer performance artists to represent those who truly make up our crazy-talented inclusive LGBTQ+ community. Kick off your Pride weekend at DC’s largest Pride party and main event.
Starring Sapphira Cristál
Sapphira Cristál is a classically trained opera singer, composer, and drag queen known for her theatrical lip sync style and six-octave vocal range. She holds 14 pageant crowns — including Miss’d America 2020/2021 —and has performed nationwide. Notably, she has appeared twice at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival: first in 2019, when she sang on the same bill as Stephanie Blythe, and again in 2023, when she was featured as a headlining artist. In the drag sphere, Sapphira is renowned as a charismatic host who commands the room and establishes a special, intimate connection with her audience.
Sapphira works to inspire young people through appearances at colleges, youth camps, and high schools. She taught several years of master classes in drag makeup and performance at Emerson College, and she has given artist talks at Rockland Community College. An experienced attitude and stage presence coach, Sapphira has also taught master classes at the Philadelphia Burlesque Academy and various dance studios.
Whenever she gets the chance, Sapphira partners with charitable organizations to raise funds to change people’s lives. Her personal credo is: “There is no better exercise for the heart than reaching down to lift someone up,” and she has made it her mission to uplift, encourage and inspire those around her.
Music By
Dez Jordan
Tezrah
Ed Bailey
Wess the DJ
Performances By
Da Boobie
Bumper
Chazmen Sonique
Connor
Evry Pleasure
haus of bambi
Jaxknife Complex
Mari Con Carne
King Molasses
Sapphire Dupree
Sasha Adams Sanchez
S’HE
The Capital Pride Alliance, through its stewardship of diverse programming and events, specifically year-round LGBTQ+ Pride festivities centered in Washington, DC and the National Capital Region, serves to celebrate, educate, support, and inspire our multi-faceted communities in order to grow and preserve our history and protect our rights for current and future generations. Learn More