Kick Off Your Summer with Pride and Art in Kalamazoo

There's no place like Kalamazoo for a festive summer kickoff, with a Pride and culture scene as fun as its name. This lovely city of about 73,000 in Southwest Michigan, located halfway between Chicago and Detroit and only 45 minutes from the shores of Lake Michigan, is chock-full of excellent craft breweries, unique museums, and a number of LGBTQ+ welcoming businesses that are eager to introduce you to the charms of Kalamazoo.

And no time is better to experience Kalamazoo – often shortened by locals to "Kzoo" – than early June, when art and Pride combine to create a weekend of joyous cultural celebration.

It's all part of Kalamazoo's annual JumpstART Weekend, the official Kzoo kickoff to summer fun with a creative flair. Taking place the weekend of June 6 to 8 across downtown, JumpstART combines art, food, music, and fun in a completely outdoor setting. JumpstART encompasses a number of festive events the local community has come to know and love, like Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts Fair, Art on the Mall, the Do-Dah Parade, Kalamazoo Pride, and much more.

Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts Fair, or just KIA Arts Fair, is the second-longest-running arts fair in America, taking place at the heart of downtown in Bronson Park on Friday and Saturday. More than a hundred jury-selected fine artists and artisans from across Michigan and the nation convene in Kalamazoo for the unique two-day shopping experience, where hand-crafted jewelry, ceramics, paintings, sculptures, glassware, leatherware, woodworks, photography, and much more are on display and on sale. Aside from the shopping, the free event includes music and food trucks all weekend long, and at the Central Commons Social District, visitors can grab a drink from local bars and restaurants and enjoy it while they stroll around looking at the art. KIA will be open for free admission on Friday and Saturday.

Also taking place on Friday and Saturday (June 6 and 7) is Art on the Mall, which for more than 35 years has showcased the work of local and regional artists right on the outdoor walking mall in downtown Kalamazoo. Original paintings, jewelry, pottery, sculptures, and garden art from more than 60 artists will be accompanied by art demonstrations, as well as very popular live entertainment.

For the LGBTQ+ community and its allies, June 6 and 7 will also bring Kalamazoo Pride, a two-day multi-cultural and multi-generational gathering of more than 20,000 people from across Southwest Michigan and beyond at Kalamazoo's Arcadia Creek Festival Place. Expect excellent music, stellar drag performances, a wide range of exhibitors and food options, plenty of dancing, and loads of proud fun, all organized by OutFront Kalamazoo, the city's LGBTQ+ social services organization.

Saturday, June 7 will see the return of Kalamazoo's lighthearted Do-Dah Parade, a unique and unstuffy local parody parade that in its 41st edition this year takes the theme "Once Upon a Time."

Throughout JumpstART Weekend or anytime of the year, the Kalamazoo area's appealing array of LGBTQ+-owned and -friendly businesses is also ready and waiting to welcome you. Museums and attractions include the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, the 90-acre Gilmore Car Museum, the more than 1,500-acre Kalamazoo Nature Center, the Air Zoo aerospace and science museum, the W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary, the Black Arts and Cultural Center, and the already-mentioned Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.

The Kalamazoo area is packed with queer-friendly cultural attractions. For theatre there's the Farmer's Alley Theatre, the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, Queer Theatre Kalamazoo, the Dormouse Theatre, and the Crawlspace Comedy Theatre. For music and other performances, Kzoo has the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Miller Auditorium, and the Fire Arts Collaborative. And for general fun there's the Airway Fun Center, Escapology, Art Bayou, and the Revel & Roll West entertainment hub.

Among the many LGBTQ+ owned and friendly shops in town are this is a book store and Drue Salon.

Kalamazoo's options for queer-friendly gathering and dining are plentiful, including Bell's Eccentric Cafe, Brewery Outre, Millennium Restaurant Group, Caffe Casa, Stamped Robin/Next Door Wine Store, One Well Brewing, and many more around the county.

And, of course, no visit to Kalamazoo would be complete without a visit to Club Vortex, Kalamazoo's LGBTQ+ nightclub.

So come kick off the summer in Kalamazoo... and see what all the fun is about!