Inside A Joyful D.C. WorldPride Music Fest With Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton, Zedd, More

Eyes and ears around the globe may have been trained on the evolving and very public cat fight between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. But at the Festival Grounds at RFK Campus, home to the WorldPride Music Fest just four miles from the White House, there was nothing but love, joy and dancing during Day 1 of the fest, with scant references from the stage to the feud or the administration that’s been trouncing on LGBTQ+ rights with a slew of executive orders. The focus, instead, was on celebration.

“We are singing and dancing right here on their front lawn, misbehaving. Yes we are,” said liner Jennifer Lopez, who expressed her allyship and gratitude to the community. “Over the years your love and your support have been a source of strength for me and today I am here to celebrate you,” she said. “I’m so happy to be able to be here to celebrate community, diversity, love and freedom.”

Besides Lopez, Marina, Paris Hilton, Rita Ora, Galantis, LP Giobbi, Tinashe, Betty Who and Zedd—who DJ’d a preparty at Utopia DC the night before—were among Day 1 performers. Day 2 features headliners Troye Sivan and Rene Rapp, Kim Petras, Raye, Sofi Tukker, Purple Disco Machine, RuPaul and more. Here are some highlights from the first day:

• JLo’s Back: Jennifer Lopez’s headlining performance served as a prequel to her upcoming “Up All Night” Tour, which launches in July in Egypt. Looking and sounding ready for the road, Lopez dropped some gems for Pride crowd. She performed the song “Save Me Tonight,” featuring David Guetta, for the first time live, and midway through the set she gave a sneak peek on screen of her upcoming feature film Kiss of the Spider Woman, which is set to debut in October.
• A Marina Debut: Singer/songwriter Marina took the stage on the same day her sixth studio album, Princess of Power, dropped. The Welsh musician gave the audience a taste of her new tunes, including the live debut of “I <3 You” and “Cuntissimo.”
• Color Commentary: WorldPride Music Festival sponsor Hornitos Tequila expanded its signature green color with an activation that embraced the whole rainbow. Festivalgoers who stopped by their photobooth picked the hue for their pic, which was added to a wall of joy.
• Paris, the Pop Artist: Paris Hilton has been DJ’ing around the world at major festivals for more than a decade. But Hilton, who ahead of the festival shared photos on Instagram of her and pals Rita Ora and Cara Delevingne boarding her plane for the flight to DC, opted to perform a (prerecorded) set of dance-y pop tunes instead. After an outfit change from a starry silver dress into a rainbow butterfly costume, she closed out with the song she’s most known for – “Stars Are Blind.”
• Screen Time: Between sets, festival organizers optimized the main stage screens by sharing stories of iconic performers in the LGBTQ+ community, playing a trivia game about performers, and promoting “Must Watch LGBTQ+ Media,” including “Love, Simon,” “Modern Family,” “Queer Eye,” “Glee” and “Young Royals.”