Big Freedia, Lizzo, Ezra Furman and More Slay at Nashville Pride Festival

The Spin encountered the usual suspects at the Nashville Pride Festival in Public Square Park this weekend: Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, the National Organization for Women, a few churches, a synagogue, Cracker Barrel, Dollar General. There were voter registration booths and Alcoholics Anonymous. The soul of Pride Fest is the Drag Stage (where the intensity of the cheers reminded us of the audience for U2 at Bonnaroo), and the children’s storytime corner. It’s standing in line to get all glittered up by State Farm, and shopping for pet accessories. There were plenty of stunning costumes — high fives to you, rainbow-butterfly-on-stilts guy and Drag Mae Beavers — and it’s a very family-friendly event. Our only disappointment: The children’s station didn’t have the petting zoo we saw on the flier.

Though we may bristle at #brands getting in on the action (we seriously doubt we'll be seeing Pride flags in Cracker Barrel's gift shop anytime soon), this is still a massive two-day event in a public park, in front of the courthouse and within shouting distance of Capitol Hill, celebrating people who identify across the LGBT spectrum. There was a Gen-X lesbian couple wearing matching T-shirts with their wedding date, there were junior-high-age kids attending with their families. There was a Nashville Black Pride booth not too far from a courthouse memorial for the Nashville sit-ins. Saturday's weather was so nice that we managed a solid sunburn. On Sunday, we spotted two young women lying on the grass, spread out as much as they could, trying to cool down. But in spite of the heat and sweat, they still held hands.

While it's far from the most important thing about the festival, the organizers did a phenomenal job with this year's music lineup, which we'll argue is Nashville Pride's best yet. We rolled up on Saturday just in time to catch the end of a groove-tastic set from powerhouse local soul outfit Alanna Royale, followed shortly by the gospel-meets-Eurodance ecstasy of La Bouche. Stepping into the late Melanie Thornton's role is no easy task, but Sophie Cairo handled the iconic vocal runs in "Sweet Dreams" and "Be My Lover" with enviable grace. Co-founder Lane McCray shouted out Hopkinsville, Ky., as his hometown and sang the praises of pulled pork and shrimp and grits — sentiments we can always get behind.

Backed by DJ Sophia Eris and flanked by her Big Girls dance crew, Lizzo turned messages about self-respect into some of the most ferociously joyful hip-hop-kissed R&B we've ever heard. Between roof-raising cuts like "Scuse Me" and "Phone," she held a little dance-off and talked about the importance of representation — "Seeing big girls wearing leotards, doing splits, doing tricks, is something I needed when I was a little girl wanting to be a dancer" — as well as self-care: "If you leave this festival, this parade, this celebration today with one thing, I hope you leave with the thought that it is OK to be in love with yourself." We could keep quoting her, but you owe it to yourself to experience her magnetism in person. To top the whole thing off, a rainbow was visible in the sky above the stage for most of her set.

When bounce queen Big Freedia held court to cap off Saturday night, time seemed to stop. It felt like the whole field was in motion as her dancers took turns on intense athletic routines set to her rapid-fire raps (several of which we noticed featured Beyoncé samples). Toward the midpoint of the set, Freedia & Co. picked out 20 audience members to participate in an onstage twerk-off to "Azz Everywhere." A little later, two dance teams emerged in full regalia for a throw-down, and despite having a fully bandaged right hand that she held far away from her body, Freedia herself jumped into the spotlight to twerk a bit. How is this not already an Olympic sport?

The exercise had us pumped for the QDPride dance party, which packed Studio615 over on the East Side. We had a blast bobbing and weaving through the sea of dancers, but our energy was starting to bottom out, so we took our leave after Mr. Babadook showed up at the top of the SheHaw comedy drag troupe's first routine.

We started Sunday with Ezra Furman and the Boy-Friends, who were an absolute delight — Furman is an ideal rock bandleader. They talked real talk about suicide and Stonewall, but their stage banter also included things like “It’s fun to be in a rock band.” Your mileage may vary, but if you like psych-rock that’s part Lou Reed, part Springsteen and even part big-band swing — well, here you go.

We spent the rest of the afternoon being serenaded by Memphis-born singer-songwriter Julien Baker, early ’90s club queen CeCe Peniston and country singer Ty Herndon, who ran through his ’90s hits and beyond. Yes, straight-up country. This is, after all, Nashville Pride.

Check out our slideshow for many more photos.