Pride & Community, Dinner & Drag
Sonoma Community Center is ready for June Pride Month
Sonoma, California. The Sonoma Community Center is amping up for its 3rd annual Pride Dinner & Drag event in partnership with Out in the Vineyard. In conjunction with Sonoma Valley Pride, the Center is also hosting Queer programming and events throughout June.
The theme for the dinner and drag event is “Priscilla, Queen of the Center,” inspired by the 1994 movie, “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.” The evening begins with the Prohibition Spirits cocktail hour in the Redwood Grove with light bites and a mocktail option from the Epicurean Connection. A three-course Australian-inspired meal, prepared by the professional chefs of the Center’s culinary department and paired with Corner 103 Wines, will be served in the Secret Garden. Henhouse Beers will also be available throughout the event.
Juliano Wade Entertainment, with support from DJ StaRJay, returns with group and individual performances celebrating the film. Joining Juliano this year will be San Francisco-based Cassidy LeBlanc and Portland-based Johnny Nuriel. The evening will end with a DJ dance party.
Gary Saperstein, owner of Out in the Vineyard, is proud to partner with the Sonoma Community Center to bring “Priscilla, Queen of the Center” to life this year as part of June Pride Month. “This Pride-themed dinner will be an experience that brings the community together through food, wine, joy, creativity, and connection,” he said. “I am thrilled to collaborate on something so vibrant and meaningful, especially at a time when celebrating visibility and community matters more than ever.”
General Admission for “Priscilla, Queen of the Center” is $150 for open seating. A VIP Experience is new this year for $500. It includes shuttle service from locations around the Valley, a pre-show meet-and-greet with professional photographs of their group with the performers, and priority reserved seating for two.
New for 2026, the Center, in partnership with Sonoma Valley Pride, will host its inaugural Pride & Community Exhibition in its upstairs Causeway Gallery. Participating artists include Katherine Allbright, Daniel Clauson, Spencer DeSylva, Scott Hale, Ash Hay, Jon Leafstedt, Jules Pierce, and Dylan Smith. An opening reception will take place on Thursday, June 4, from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m., while the Center is the host venue for Sonoma Art Walk.
“This showcase brings people together through art as an expression of our experiences in the LGBTQIA+ community,” said participating artist Spencer DeSylva. “Finding new and varying ways to make connections with our neighbors, especially through art, is needed very much right now, and I’m very excited to be involved!”
Pride & Community’s reception refreshments include pours from wine sponsor Pangloss Cellars and light bites from Aunt Momo’s Catering. Many of the artists will be in attendance to talk about their work, and there will be some surprises. The exhibit will be open daily through June 30.
Related Pride events at the Center include the Gallery 212 opening for Carry It With You by ceramics artist in residence Ariana Stein on Saturday, May 30, at 6:00 p.m., and a special presentation, “Queer Trailblazers,” an evening of storytelling, music, and community, will take place on Thursday, June 18, at 5:00 p.m. There will also be a special low-cost PRINT LAB event with featured Pride artist, Ash Hay, on Friday, June 26, where they will focus on a technique called Trace Monotype.
For all of the Center’s Pride programming and tickets for special events, visit SonomaCommunityCenter.org. For tickets to Sonoma Valley Pride’s events, visit SonomaValleyPride.org. Sonoma Community Center is located at 276 East Napa Street in Sonoma.
About Sonoma Community Center
The Sonoma Community Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1953 to serve the communities of Sonoma Valley with the mission of cultivating a vibrant community through extraordinary creative, cultural, and learning experiences. Originally built as the Sonoma Grammar School, which opened in 1916, the Center is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Community – Innovation – Creativity – Inclusion – Leadership
About Out in the Vineyard
Out In The Vineyard is an experiential Wine Country Event and Travel company for our LGBTQ+ community, offering exclusive, luxury itineraries and events in Wine Country for the discerning gay traveler and our friends.
About Sonoma Valley Pride
Founded in 2020 by Gary Saperstein and Matthew Long, who crafted a banner to display on the plaza for the month of Pride. With the support of the City of Sonoma and, later, a partnership with Lisa Storment of WakeUp Sonoma, they’ve grown from displaying the beloved pride banners on the square into a pride festival Sonoma can be proud of.
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Media Contact:
Cat Smith
Director of Marketing, Sonoma Community Center
[email protected]
707-931-4147 or cell 707-299-8281
