Shed your winter skin with 42 Black Party pics

The Saint At Large® presents XLII: The Black Party® 2025

Beginning the evening of March 22, the Black Party delivered a 16-hour experience of performance art and dance party experience billed as a 90s twisted glam space pastiche. This year’s event was inspired by the seminal book and movie adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, wherein the number 42 is “the answer to life, the universe, and everything.”

The event featured extreme suspension art and piercings by Will Atkins, Butoh dancers, drag musician WorshipHer, body painting by Gio Black Peter, and more performances from Alone, Curtis Faulkner and JMV, Jaclyn Atkinson, Lee Soulja, GXtravaganza, Madame 007, Josh Caffé, Prosumer, Sharon White, and Quentin Harris.

All of the proceeds benefited The Saint Foundation, the mission of which is to acquire and preserve artifacts of New York City LGBTQ+ nightlife of the post-Stonewall era in order to create a chronicle of the socioeconomic, political and cultural history of the New York LGBTQ+ community.

With bold looks and fierce energy, the attendees fully embodied the cosmic chaos, shedding their winter skins and embracing the renewal that spring promises. Swipe through 42 epic photos capturing the annual Rites of Spring bacchanal, a mainstay of New York City's gay social scene for over four decades.