42nd Provincetown Carnival Goes Virtual

The Provincetown Business Guild (PBG), one of the oldest LGBTQ business organizations in the country, has announced Carnival, their largest annual event, is going online. The PBG has partnered with Jonathan Hawkins and his production company, Live from Provincetown, to create a virtual celebration, titled Forever Provincetown, that will take place Saturday, August 22nd.

Kicking off Carnival at 5:00 p.m. EST is This MaskQueerAde, a virtual tea dance and costume celebration hosted by The Boatslip Resort. Following the tea dance will be a live broadcast at 7:00 p.m. EST featuring appearances by beloved Ptown performers including Peter Donnelly, Jon Richardson, The Boy Band Project, Mackenzie, Qya Cristal, Zoe Lewis, Marti Gould Cummings and Miss Richfield 1981 plus international drag artist and singer, Courtney Act and actor Daniel Franzese (Mean Girls, Looking.) Additional acts to be announced.

"I am honored to help the PBG celebrate the rich history of Carnival with a virtual experience," said Jonathan Hawkins of Live from Provincetown. "Participants can relive their favorite moments from past Carnivals and make new memories watching this year's stellar lineup of performances."

Started in 1978 by a group of LGBTQ innkeepers who wanted to enliven Provincetown and celebrate the LGBTQ community, Carnival commemorates the town's creative legacy, history as a welcoming community and haven for LGBTQ people. Carnival's legacy, its importance to the history of Provincetown and its importance to the LGBTQ community is why the PBG decided to create a virtual Carnival celebration and bring the magic of Carnival to homes across the globe.

"Carnival has brought hundreds of thousands of people to Provincetown for over 40 years to celebrate our magical, welcoming town and the freedom to fully express oneself," said Bob Sanborn, executive director of The Provincetown Business Guild. "With Forever Provincetown, we can bring the tradition of Carnival into people's homes and reinforce the message that Provincetown will continue to survive this pandemic and will thrive again."

Forever Provincetown encompasses Carnivals past as well as this year's Holiday theme inspiring a myriad of safe costume and celebratory options. "The creative (and safe) mask options are endless!" said Bob Sanborn.

While there are no large scale events this year, Provincetown businesses are encouraged to decorate for Carnival and many businesses will be celebrating Carnival in a safe and fun manner through outdoor dining, creative take-out food and drink options, on-line specials, outdoor performances, festive costume offerings and more. Please consider dressing in costume for the virtual tea dance or any of the virtual events and post your picture online!

The 2021 Carnival theme will be announced at the end of the virtual experience, keeping with the custom of the last float of the Carnival parade revealing the next year's theme.

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