What a year it was! I mean, we could say that every year, because truly, y’all make sure things are always festive, fun, and so very joyful, but this year is definitely one for the record books!
When this year started, we were actively looking for a new space. We knew that 2025 was going to be our last year in the basement at 103 and this was frustrating, very much not our choice, but we were taking it as a challenge to find a space that could deliver the things our OG space couldn’t. Things like happy hour and full food, things like seven days a week programming, things like increased accessibility. We thought we were starting the year with a deal in place but it fell through. Luckily for us, we learned about the recently vacated Reign space on Jasper, and so began our two gay bar summer.
That had never been the plan, you know. We wanted to be opening one as the other closed, but again, through no choice of our own really, here we had another opportunity to rise to the occasion and give y’all something we hadn’t had in Edmonton for a while: multiple gay bars! (Don’t get us wrong though, what we love about this city is that its overall so progressive that there are many queer-friendly straight spaces that are super inclusive. Counting those, Edmonton has more queer space than other cities our size. We love this city!)
Our new space opened in April, just in time for a gay curling nationals sneak peek – and ironically, our old space closed in November, just in time for a gay curling bonspiel! We love our curlers, for sure! Also ironically, the year that started with plans to move out of a dark basement dance space is ending with us opening a dark basement dance space – just this time, it’s one floor of three!
But what else happened in 2025? We hosted our fourth Winterruption event, this time with Utica! We crowned Alberta’s newest Drag Superstar, Lethbridge’s Francheska Dynamites. We celebrated Black History Month with performers, vendors, and DJs. We crowned our new EVOs: Sir Papi and Emmonia, and crowned our first and only Miss Wonderlounge, Sister Mary Clarence. We were honored to be an emergency venue for Edmonton’s Drag Fest when the dragnado hit the Square and blew them all our way. Queer Raves with Feral Hearts continued to fill the space with peace, love, unity, and respect. We got to enjoy a shuttle between venues during Pride Fest, filling both our spaces with joy. We celebrated 12 years as #yourgaybar. We celebrated our trans and gender expansive family with TWO wonderful appearances from the truly angelic Angelica Ross. We celebrated queer history with book launches and video presentations from local icons. We drank and drew; we made pour decisions; we karaoke’d; we tested our trivia skills; we tested our Mario Kart skills; we played bingo; we learned to salsa; we got gothy with Velvet Prairie; we listened to Chappell Roan; we watched the Oilers almost get the cup; we played board games with the Community League; we enjoyed live music; we danced; we danced more; we were queer.
Most of all, we got to expand our EVO family, not just with the new team for the space, but also with all the incredible people who have been able to enjoy EVO programming that weren’t interested in what the OG space had to offer. Our family has expanded so much this year, and we are so blessed. We couldn’t do it without each and every one of you. And we couldn’t do it without community partners like the ISCWR, FAB, ELEN, RaricaNow, Curling with Pride, Team Edmonton, Edmonton Vocal Minority, Rainbow Story Hub, Edmonton Queer History Project, and SO MANY MORE.
We start 2026 with hearts filled with the deepest and most profound gratitude. Already, we have months of exciting programming planned, programming that elevates and uplifts our queer and trans performers, our non-profits, our community. We are at a vital moment in our time together, but if you continue to support, we will continue to provide. We love you Edmonton.
