Carnival parade brought floats, drag performers and Marie Antoinette
“Renaissance x Revolution” was this year’s theme of the Provincetown Carnival parade.
It’s day 7 of Provincetown Carnival Week. Today’s program includes a drag brunch, the carnival’s closing party, and a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The 2024 Renaissance X Revolution theme week runs August 17-24. The tip of Cape Cod is full of rainbows, feathers, big hair, and lots of festive wear.
Spoiler alert: The carnival theme for 2025 is at the end of this story.
In addition to yesterday’s popular parade along Commercial Street, this week’s event features pool parties, dance parties, drag queen shows, dress-up opportunities and a boat cruise – just to name a few of the festive summer activities.
We bring you an updated list of activities for each day of Carnival. Although the closing party is today, Carnival technically runs until August 24th, so we’re bringing you one more day of activities after today.
Here are some of the events planned for today:
Choose a party
The Crown & Anchor at 247 Commercial Street will host the Carnival Closing Party from 10pm featuring drag performer Kevin Aviance. Aviance recently experienced a resurgence in popularity when Beyoncé used some of his songs for her album “Renaissance”.
There’s Friday Night Pop with DJ KT at 10 p.m. at the Underground Bar at 293 Commercial St. and the daily tea dance at the Boatslip Resort and Beach Club at 161 Commercial St. from 4 to 7 p.m. The Friday theme at Boatslip is Dog Tag Tea – black, green, camouflage, harnesses and boots – with current dance music.
Dress up for the Drag Brunch
The drag brunch at Patio American Grill & Cocktail Bar at 328 Commercial St. benefits Helping Our Women, a nonprofit with offices in Provincetown and Eastham that focuses on the needs of women in the Outer Cape living with chronic or serious illnesses.
“Drag attire is required for entry,” the event description states, and “priority seating” is available for the best drag fans. The event begins at 12 noon.
Watch “Rocky Horror Picture Show”
The cult classic “Rocky Horror Picture Show” will be shown at the Waters Edge Cinema, 237 Commercial Street, third floor. The film begins at 10 p.m.
Watch a show – or three
There are about a dozen shows on Friday and you’ll have a chance to see any acts you may have missed earlier in the week as most are already on stage. Emerson Collins and Blake Iver will perform “I Dreamed a Dream Girl” at 5 p.m. at the Art House at 214 Commercial St., Miss Conception Goes to the Movies will be performed at 7:30 p.m. at the Pilgrim House at 336 Commercial St. and Jon Richardson will play piano at 9:30 p.m. at the Crown & Anchor
For a complete list of Carnival events, visit https://ptown.org/calendars/.
What is the theme of the 2025 Carnival?
The carnival theme for 2025 is “Summer Camp”.
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