Stonewall Festival :: Where the Girls Are
The beer flowed from kegs, the burger sizzled off the grill, the rainbow flags flapped in the stagnant June air and hundreds of lesbians converged into the New Moon Bar courtyard.
Young and old, short and tall, white and black, butch or femme-the area directly next to New Moon Bar on Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors served as lesbian central for the thousands of women-gay, straight, and bi--- attending the Stonewall Pride Street Festival on Sunday, June 24. And it makes sense. New Moon is probably the hotspot for many South Florida lesbians. Whether they're attending bucket of Bud Sundays after a softball game, karaoke Thursdays after work or making out with an anonymous stranger during its weekly Friday night party, this hole-in-the-wall bar with the spacious outdoor patio is definitely where the girls in Wilton Manors are.
So of course it made sense that everyone of the XX Chromosome persuasion flocked to New Moon first. In fact, many spectators didn't leave the area once, despite the festival's other happenings less than a few feet away.
"It's definitely party central for the girls," said Alli, a weekend bartender handing out drinks at New Moon. "For some people this is Pride."
The bar's owner, Carol Moran, said she lined up several sponsors, including Red Bull and Bud Light and got 15 employees to assist with the crowds for the day-long event. This is New Moon's third year, since it opened three years ago, hosting stage events-including drag king sows and dance performances-a deejay and selling barbecued food.
"I love throwing parties," Moran said after squirting a few giggling twenty-something women with a plastic water gun. "Our other big event is usually our anniversary party in March."
Most attendees said the anything-goes party atmosphere (well, not everything goes. One girl who was fall-down drunk was placed in time-out in the back of the bar) rivaled similar festivals and parties in other areas of South Florida.
"This is just like Calle Ocho," said Jessi, a 22-year-old from Miami.
"No, it's more like when the Miami Heat won [the NBA Championship] last year and everyone was partying in Hialeah," said her friend Felicia. "Except for this is like lesbians gone wild."
Even some of the performers got caught up in the raucous atmosphere. Rico Suave, one of several drag kings who performed on stage, said he worked at all three New Moon Stonewall parties and had some pretty wild encounters.
Suave said, "One woman felt down my crotch to see if I was packing-and she found out I was packing."