Silicon Valley Pride is gearing up for the 40th anniversary of the event, which takes place late summer in downtown San Jose. To garner support for the annual festival, organizers are holding a series of fundraisers leading up to the main event. The Sweetheart Ball, one such function, took place over Valentine’s Day weekend.
The next one takes place this Sunday, Feb. 22, at Mosaic Restaurant: the much-anticipated Silicon Valley Pride Drag Brunch.
For $20, brunchers will be treated to a brand new menu and a show featuring local drag queens and DJs. Bottomless mimosas cost another $10.
Diners are encouraged to dress in their flashy finest so they can get their portraits taken by photographer Lawrence McCrorey.
Featured entertainers include local favorites Mona Lot Moore, in full face a dead ringer for Cher, and Alina Malletti-Galore, a longtime mentor in the South Bay’s drag community and perennial contestant in Miss Gay USofA.
Money raised benefits the Gay Pride Celebration Committee of San Jose, a nonprofit that produces Silicon Valley Pride festival and has served the local LGBT community for more than four decades.
San Jose’s first gay rights rally took place in 1971. The following year, one of the first gay newspapers in the nation, Lambda News, began to promote the event. Within a few years, the annual pride festival in San Jose featured political speakers, dozens of community sponsors, live entertainment and a parade through downtown.
In 2014, organizers rebranded from San Jose Pride to Silicon Valley Pride, to give the event a more regional focus.
Silicon Valley Pride Drag Brunch. 11am-2pm Sunday at Mosaic Restaurant, 211 S. First St., San Jose. $20, tax and tip included. For more info: 408.282.8888.
.Silicon Valley Pride Drag Brunch Coming To Mosaic
