DTLA Proud Kicks Off Its First Bash This Weekend

Downtown L.A. (DTLA) has undergone some radical changes over the past few years. Starting around 2006, new residents - many of them LGBTQ - began flooding into the city center and spurring a remarkable transformation that included a spate of bold-name restaurants, luxury apartment buildings, grand entertainment venues, and serious art galleries. In no time, Downtown started to feel like a bona fide gayborhood; an impression legitimized in 2014 as a handful of new DTLA gay bars opened in rapid succession while long-established LGBTQ watering holes shuttered just as quickly everywhere else in the city.

Spurred on the remarkable queerification of the neighborhood, a coalition of Downtown residents, business owners and local activists came together, united by a shared vision to produce an inclusive, local event that celebrates the diversity of its LGBTQ community.

The event, dubbed DTLA Proud, takes place Sunday, August 7 from 12 noon to 10 p.m. in Pershing Square Park (532 So. Olive Street, Los Angeles) and consists of a dizzying line-up that seems impossible to believe could happen in just ten hours. To name just a few: the Boulet Brothers will don the mantle of DTLA Proud's masters of ceremonies; the Eastside's favorite pop-up waterpark, Summertramp, will keep things cool and wet; and, fan favorites Jackie Beat, Cazwell and Pandora Boxx will perform.

Tickets for the event are $10 and can be purchased in advance on Eventbrite or in Pershing Square Park the day of the event. Check out the full line-up below: