Get your Pride party on

It’s almost June, and that means Toronto’s annual Pride Month is upon us! As with the past few years, the AGO is helping kick off the month’s festivities by hosting the Official Pride Launch Party at this week’s AGO First Thursday on June 1. History tell us that this is one you don’t want to miss.

A visionary program has been created for the event by Syrus Marcus Ware and Kyisha Williams on behalf of Blackness Yes! (who have programmed the legendary Blockorama stage for nearly 20 years). The night brings together DJs, artist projects, performances, talks, special installations and a performance by the New York-based hip hop artist Junglepussy to celebrate Black queer and trans lives, art and activism, and all things Pride. Tickets are going fast, so if you haven’t got yours yet, click here!

The line-up includes DJ sets by DJ DurtyDabz and DJ Craig Dominic; artist projects by Melisse Watson, Belinda Ageda, Rodney Diverlus and Ella Cooper; a special installation of artist-designed banners created for the Blockorama stage; pop-up talks by artists, activists and curators including Barak adé Soleil; and hands-on interactive artmaking with artist Nadijah Robinson. On top of all this, you can count on the usual Night Market snacks and cash bars to fuel the late-night festivities.

To get you in the mood for the ultimate Pride art-party, here are two of Junglepussy’s latest tracks:

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First Thursday Partners: