LadyLand Festival 2022 - Brooklyn, NY
June 17th 2022: LadyLand Festival @ The Brooklyn Mirage
Ladyland is a yearly queer music festival hosted by Ladyfag - boasting heaps of queer talent on its lineup and held at the outdoors Brooklyn Mirage. For one night only during pride month, partygoers can dance all their worries away from 8 pm to the hours of the next morning. This is my third year attending this festival - and it's an amazing time with beautiful energy every time. This year they sprung for an impressive giant LED screen wrapping all around the stage, showing gorgeous visuals during all the sets that kept the entire experience immersive and packed with good vibes (and even a confetti condom cannon.)
Previously boasting alternative talent the likes of King Princess, Kim Petras, Pablo Vittar, Caroline Polachek, and SOPHIE - this year’s lineup was no different in its star power. Headlined by pop icon Tinashe and DJ Honey Dijon, Ladyland has an impressive main stage, but also equally exciting lineups in two smaller areas of the venue - King's Hall and the Village. When I arrived around 9 pm - Stiletto was kicking the night off with a banging DJ set. Shortly after - Brooke Candy strolled onto the stage with two backup dancers in tow, absolutely serving us the performance that we needed.
Despite the schedule running a little bit late, that did not dampen a single person's spirits. Vanessa Vanjie took the stage next armed with a bottle of tequila, filling up the cups of many at the barricade as well as pouring it directly into fan'’ mouths. Shygirl captivated the audience next with her hypnotizing vocals and hyper-pop sound. The anticipation had been building all night - by this time the place was getting pretty packed and the energy was buzzing in the air. Sevdaliza, despite being able to have her full band with her due to visa issues, put on an energetic performance with beautiful cinematic visuals on the giant screen behind her. By the time Tinashe took the stage - the crowd was completely ready to absolutely go all out. Tinashe brought a slew of backup dancers and choreographed dances, keeping the energy up at insane levels for the rest of the night. As an ally, I love being able to celebrate members of the LGBTQIA+ community like this - it's always lots of love and joy and immensely welcoming in a way that other festivals can't quite live up to.