The L train had an even more carnival-esque energy than usual this weekend, as skimpily dressed revelers boarded it after streaming out of Ladyland, a two-day music festival held underneath the Kosciuszko Bridge for Pride Month. Colorful characters packed the cars trading joyful gossip, some returning home giddy from hours of dancing and others heading with friends to their next techno conquest.
Ladyland, according to its founder, Rayne Baron — the 48-year-old high-priestess of nightlife known professionally as Ladyfag — is like the “pre-party to your rave.” Founded in 2018, the annual event was conceived as a subway-accessible music festival for queer people. Though it has taken place at several venues, for the past few years it has happened at Under the K Bridge Park, which, as its name suggests, is underneath the bridge connecting Queens and Brooklyn.
But it was never a rainbow-themed Pride event. Ladyland offers something “just a little more alt,” Ladyfag said in her British-tinged-with-New-York accent.
The first festival took place at the mega-club Brooklyn Mirage, featuring the rapper Eve as its headliner, alongside then-lesser-known acts such as 070 Shake and King Princess. Throughout its seven-year run, Ladyland has continued to book big name artists and emerging acts alike. Superstars such as Christina Aguilera, who performed in 2021, and Madonna, who surprised fans with a vogueing contest last year, have been joined by local legends and underground favorites.
This year’s headliners were FKA Twigs and Cardi B, who in 2017 performed at Ladyfag’s Holy Mountain party — right before the release of the rapper’s first hit, “Bodak Yellow” — for a fee of $4,000. Now Cardi B is a superstar and plays Ladyland as an acknowledgment of Ladyfag’s early support. Other acts on this year’s lineup included drag performances and DJ sets to neoperreo, a type of reggaeton, J-pop, rap and electro music.
On Saturday, the DJ and vocalist known as Eartheater lit up the main stage while her month-old baby slept sweetly backstage. As attendees made their way through the crowd, those holding folding fans occasionally provided a much-needed breeze to sweaty strangers, a gesture of camaraderie in the summer scorch. Political statements were sometimes subtle — “Protect the Dolls” T-shirts were a dime a dozen — and sometimes overt: One attendee, who was carrying a white Balenciaga top handle bag, wore comically large prosthetic breasts and a President Trump mask.
Marlin Steen, 25, danced in a fenced area known as the “Truck” stage wearing an all-pink outfit of a trucker hat, half-on bra, feather boa and fur boots. When asked to describe his look, he said, “Dollars and pennies of sexiness, because I always bring it no matter how much I spend.”
Kevin Aviance, the drag performer and New York club personality, took the stage in a printed bodysuit with stuffed shoulders. A departure from his typical “grrrr” look, he said with gnashed teeth, his ensemble was meant to celebrate life after a recent health scare. “I pulled from the gods,” as he put it.
Divinity was a common sartorial theme: There was an abundance of angel wings and veils in the crowd and crosses were incorporated into performances. Zenzile, a pregnant partygoer wearing a glittery pink chain-mail bikini top and camouflage pants, had her belly on full display. “I feel like a star is coming into my body, I’m like this celestial realm,” she said.
Mingling with the sweat-drenched sailors and club rats with cyber sigilism tattoos was, of course, Ladyfag herself. On the festival’s second night, she had to send her three-year-old daughter home early despite the toddler’s many protests. “She wanted to see Twigs,” Ladyfag said, but the performance conflicted with her daughter’s 8:30 p.m. bed time.
The morning after the festival wraps, one can usually spot Ladyfag with her wife and daughter at Msgr. McGolrick Park in Brooklyn. Like Under the K Bridge Park, it is maintained by the North Brooklyn Parks Alliance, which receives $2 of every Ladyland ticket sold.
“It’s fun, it’s community,” Ladyfag said. “The adult playground supporting the kids’ playground.”
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