Here is your curated Hartford event calendar for June 2022.
What makes this list? Events that I would either attend or recommend to a good friend.
Check with each venue for information about Covid protection procedures and to verify that an event is still happening. If I think a venue’s Covid protection policies are soft, its indoor events are not listed.
ADD TO CALENDAR
- HOPGOOD/LORD SUMMER MUSIC SERIES: Oh, it’s Wednesday and you don’t want to wait until Friday to do things besides work and laundry? Come to Bushnell Park every Wednesday in June for the summer music series, 6:30-8:30 PM. Performers for June, in order: The Professors of Sweet Sweet Music, Haneef N. Nelson Quintet, Mixed Company, Michael Carabello Trio, and The Harvest Band. Bring some cash for the ice cream cart. These performances are free and outdoors. This is across the street from Union Station and in walking distance of nearly every bus in Greater Hartford.
- THURSDAY LANTERN TOURS: The Curioporium is currently my favorite place in Hartford that’s not my house or outside. I’ve only done self-guided wandering, because that’s my own preference for exploring anything, but I know there are people out there who will absolutely want this tour in their lives. They describe it better than I could: “You and your ‘loved ones’ are invited for a group guided tour and shopping experience of the Havisham Vault as you have never seen it before… By lantern light! And to make it a bit more interesting, we have summoned a guide who definitely knows his way through the Havisham History: The Grim Reaper, himself!” Masks — the good kind — are required to be worn. And ask they say, “Guests must arrive on time for their scheduled tour as Death waits for no one.” Tours are offered on Thursdays from 6-7 PM; tickets are $10 and slots must be reserved because there’s a maximum capacity. Curioporium is at 1429 Park Street. This is around the corner from the CTfastrak Parkville Station and on the 31-33 bus route.
- HEATHER MCLARNEY: Preview her sound, and then see her live on Pratt Street from 6-7:30 PM on June 2, 2022. This is a free, outdoor event. Pratt Street is a short walk from most Greater Hartford buses.
- BISEXUAL SHORTS: Like most film festivals, this year’s Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival is partially live, partially virtual. You can see the full schedule, and Cinestudio continues to use protection measures by requiring masks be worn in the theater, but, I want to talk about this specific offering: Twice As Nice: Bisexual Shorts. Actually, let’s get more specific than that. The film Half sounds like it came out of my brain: “Jonah Dorman is half-Jewish and bisexual. When he comes out to his girlfriend, it shakes the foundation of their relationship and launches a tragicomic exploration of love and religion in New York City.” So, that and other shorts — a total of seven — are available to view starting on June 3, 2022 from the comfort of wherever you decide to watch on your device. $12.
- FOWL PLAY: This one is for the kids — Take a bilingual English/Spanish bird and nature walk/scavenger hunt with Miss Nancy (of Hartford Public Library) in Pope Park North (Russ and Putnam) at 11 AM on June 3, 2022. Free. This is walking distance from the 63, 69, 121, and 161 buses.
- RILEY COTTON: Another excuse to hang out on Pratt Street — yes, literally, in the street. Preview Riley Cotton‘s music and hear her perform live on Friday, June 3, 2022 from 6-7:30 PM. This is free and outdoors. Pratt Street is a short walk from most Greater Hartford buses.
- CONNECTICUT TRAILS DAY: On June 4, 2022 you can take a tree tour at Cedar Hill Cemetery from 10 AM to 12 PM or take a tour of the trees in Bushnell Park from 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM; I don’t know which Bushnell Park trees will be highlighted, but 63 trees have been planted since Fall 2021! Then, on June 5, 2022, there’s an historic Main Street tour that covers 1.5 miles beginning at the Butler-McCook House and going north, 10 AM to 12 PM. These are all free and outdoors.
- MEET YOU AT THE CEMETERY GATES: Ruth Shapleigh-Brown will give a free guided tour of the Ancient Burying Ground beginning at 11 AM on June 4, 2022. Meet at the cemetery gates on Gold Street. Gold Street is a short walk from most Greater Hartford buses.
- SYMPHONY IN THE PARK: FINALLY! Just gonna come right out and say that some of us (me) prefer whole damn orchestras to most of the other musical offerings in the area. This performance will include over 55 Hartford Symphony Orchestra musicians performing in Bushnell Park for free. This will be on June 4, 2022 at 2 PM. If it rains, this moves indoors to The Bushnell. Everyone, work your magic now so that it does not rain. Bushnell Park is across the street from Union Station and in walking distance of nearly every bus in Greater Hartford.
- WEST END FARMERS MARKET: The market opens for the season on June 7, 2022, 4-7 PM. Besides all the usual farmers’ market stuff, they will be having a free screening of the documentary Kiss The Ground, so bring your blanket or lawn chair. They market is on the green on Farmington Avenue, just east of Owen Street. This is on the 60, 62, 64, and 66 bus route.
- KISS MY AZTEC: Listen, I’m not someone who poses for selfies with any regularity, and I certainly don’t have a collection of pics of me posing with celebrities, but when John Leguizamo came to Burns Elementary a few years back, you bet your ass I waited in a line for this. How many times did I watch To Wong Foo…? Moulin Rouge? Romeo + Juliet? And mainly, for his characters. And then there’s John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons. So. . . Hartford Stage describes Kiss My Aztec: “From comedy legend John Leguizamo and director Tony Taccone comes an irreverent new musical loosely based on Latin American history…very loosely! Travel back to the 16th century as a group of Aztecs lead the resistance against Spanish invaders. With a fierce female warrior at the helm and a not-so-fierce clown in tow, they mount a scrappy attack — and get entangled with royalty, colonizers, pop stars, and puppets.” No, Leguizamo does not appear in the performance, but that’s hardly the point. There are four performances of this at Hartford Stage where patrons will continue to be protected through mandatory mask-wearing and showing proof of vaccination: June 8, June 14, June 17, and June 25. Hartford residents can snap up two free passes through the library. Hartford Stage is a short walk from most Greater Hartford buses.
- ERIN ROCC: Listen to live music on Pratt Street from 6-7:30 PM on June 10, 2022. Check out her Instagram to get a preview. Pratt Street is a short walk from most Greater Hartford buses.
- TAI CHI: Learn and practice Tai Chi in Riverside Park. I learned from the instructor a bunch of years ago and am thrilled that she is teaching this series. It’s free, but there’s a suggested $5 donation to Riverfront Recapture. This meets on Saturday June 11, June 18, and June 25 from 10:30-11:30 AM.
- STORIES IN STONE: Go to Cedar Hill Cemetery to learn about monument styles, but in a historical way, not in a sales pitch way. Let’s make that clear. Meet by the flagpole on June 15, 2022; this tour is from 10 AM to 12 PM. This is outdoors and costs $10 if you aren’t a Cedar Hill Cemetery member. Cedar Hill Cemetery is a short walk from the 61 bus.
- DEXTER’S LAB: Free outdoor musical performance at the Connecticut Historical Society on June 16, 2022, 6-7:30 PM. Bring your own lawn chairs and snacks. If it rains, the performance will move indoors. It will also be livestreamed on YouTube, so if you aren’t feeling indoor events yet, you’ve got another option if the weather is less than friendly that day. This is a short walk from the 72, 74, and 161 bus.
- DANCING IN THE STREET: Come learn, or just do, salsa dancing in Pratt Street on June 17, 2022 from 5-8 PM. This is free and outdoors. Pratt Street is a short walk from most Greater Hartford buses.
- DARK SIDE OF THE MOON: When you’ve had your fill of twirling around, walk over to Mortensen Riverfront on June 17 to listen to Mauve Floyd’s performance of the Dark Side of the Moon album, 7-9 PM. This is a free, outdoor event. The Dash shuttle stop at the Convention Center is closest to the Riverfront; it’s also a short walk to most Greater Hartford buses.
- A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN: Bring your picnic and watch this classic at Riverside Park on June 18 from about 8:30-10:30 PM. Where’s Riverside Park. Use that lump that’s three feet above your ass to figure it out. This is free and outdoors. You might want to bring bug spray and/or wear long sleeves if the mosquitoes have emerged.
- SOUSAPALOOZA: Listen to or participate in an unrehearsed band performance at Mortensen Riverfront Plaza on June 21 from 6-7 PM. This is a free, outdoor event. Bring your own brass? The Dash shuttle stop at the Convention Center is closest to the Riverfront; it’s also a short walk to most Greater Hartford buses.
- HARLOTS WHORES & HACKABOUTS: Dr. Kate Lister and Dr. Melinda Chateauvert will be having a virtual conversation about Lister’s book. The Twain House folks say: “The history of selling sex is a hidden one―and too often its practitioners are pushed to the margins of history. This book redresses the balance, revealing the history of the sex trade through the eyes of sex workers, from medieval streets to Wild West saloons, and from brothels to state bedrooms. These enthralling tales are brought to life by Whores of Yore creator Kate Lister’s witty and authoritative text, and illuminated by a rich archive of photographs, artworks, and objects offering insight into sex workers’ lives, challenging assumptions about this age-old trade.” This event is at noon on June 23, 2022. Register here.
- RIVERFRONT DANCE FESTIVAL: Grab a seat at Mortensen Riverfront Plaza and watch live dance performances from 2-9 PM on June 24, 2022. Free and outdoors. The Dash shuttle stop at the Convention Center is closest to the Riverfront; it’s also a short walk to most Greater Hartford buses.
- HARTFORD LATINO FEST: Music, dancing, and more from 12-7 PM on June 25, 2022 at the baseball stadium. Free. Many buses stop directly in front of the stadium: Dash, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58.
- PERILS OF PENNINGTON: Andre Keitt will be talking about James Pennington, the pastor of Hartford’s first and America’s third Black church. This free virtual event takes place at noon on June 28, 2022. Register here.
- BRASS QUINTET CONCERT: The Hartford Symphony Brass Quintet will be performing in Elizabeth Park at 6:30 PM on June 29, 2022. This is free and outdoors. There is a bike rack by the Pond House. The 72 bus makes several stops along the park on Asylum Avenue and the bus is also free.
But where are all the Pride month events?!?!
Good question, Hartford.
It seems that this year, again, the Pride celebration will be in September. . . divorcing itself once again from marking the anniversary of Stonewall. Feel free to rant in the comments about rainbow-washing and the depoliticizing of Pride.
The Puerto Rican Day Parade & Festival also has fled June, with that scheduled for August.
CULTURAL ASSETS
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Richard Nelson
I love open doors. Thank you, Kerri. Here are my thoughts on Pride.
Some cities and towns still honor the brave fight back at Stonewall in the month of June. I have heard through the Mucha Mucha Placer grapevine that something is cooking for behind the Old State House on June 26. This is the anniversary of the first annual Pride in 1982. Other towns in Ct. holding Pride in June are Middletown, West Hartford, Stanford, Westport, Norwalk, and New Haven for Black Pride. The larger cities as you state have moved the festivities, Hartford Sept. 10, New Haven Sept. 12-19, New London Aug. 20, Bridgeport July 23.
So that out of the way now I can say what I think. For the past six months I who love the telling of ourstories (try hard not to use history) have been working on a timeline documenting Pride Festivals in Connecticut from the first to the very recent. A job that doesn’t thrill me as Pride festivities have never really been my thing. But all around the world millions come out each year to celebrate. If someone could only turn those millions into a political force well the tyrants would tremble sick with fear, perhaps upchuck, and die. Corporate Pride, Cop Pride, trinket tribe Pride, rainbow colored everything does not interest me. Allies playing with their rainbow colored frisbees, dog pride and corporations all patting themselves on their back and expecting a pat back dollar bill makes me shake my head and ask what have we become? Pawns in the game of the system, tools of the ruling class. A revolutionary force gone bad. For a group to MARCH, let me say that again for a group to MARCH in the pride parade in Middletown it will cost them $50. Sylvia and Marsha would have blocked that parade with a shopping cart. Oh, I can hear the boo hoo’s now. Rain on our parade. Why oh why?
Groups have sprung up over the years in opposition to Pride. Gay Shame out of San Francisco radical queers a virus in the system use to block Pride parades, also no Justice No Pride out of D.C and even here in Hartford Queers Without Borders had their say in the leaflet for their event No Pride in Apartheid, “ In 1969 Stonewall and the early queer pride events meant fight back and solidarity with the oppressed. Yet today’s Pride have become an orgy of corporate consumerism and homo-nationalism. Where struggles such as racial and economic justice, immigration, anti-imperialism, and anti-militarization are being lost through the “Middle class whitewashing of Stonewall and its Pride events.”
I am a member of the group out of NYC called Reclaim Pride. Each year we march on the same day, different route than the corporate beholden Heritage of Pride. Reclaim Pride does not need to be shamed into or afraid of facing the issues head on. We do not parade we MARCH! More and more people are joining us trying to shake up mainstream pride. There is a war going on, and I am not talking about a train coming down the road to get the Lesbian and Gay community over their right to marry. (those one issue BS folks still get me) The train of Legal Fascism, a step to the final solution is here. The Transgender community around this country is being attack daily by neo-fascists passing laws against them. I know Reclaim Pride will take up this issue while Heritage of Pride and I bet most of the party hardy prides in Ct. will still be eating rainbow-colored hot dogs.
Soon on my site, Furbirdsqueerly, I will be publishing an essay Documenting Pride: A political commentary, and if I feel up to it will speak my piece at late June Pride in Hartford. (which promises to be no corporations, no rainbow-colored cops blowing kisses on Saturday and murdering black and brown men and women on Monday, hopefully no politicians, except maybe one, (remind him that a law is a law on the books one day and taken off the next), but a day to speak out, and of course yes celebrate those brave folks who said and are still saying NO! I must leave this with one thought, the great revolutionary Salvadorian poet Roque Dalton once said in an essay, “Don’t ever forget that even the least fascist among you is still a fascist.” Now that is something worth marching about.
Kerri
I know there are other Pride events going on around the state, but this calendar is for Hartford events specifically. I also wonder about the state capitol notably NOT having its Pride event in June. I know that an explanation given a few years ago was that it would be in the fall, aligned with a marriage equality landmark. . . and that was cute the first time, but it feels like it’s moved away from the point. But, if you look at most of the parades for other communities, you’d find critics of those saying the same thing. . . that the parade/festival moved away from the purpose. Those are more clear, when you see a parade taken over by politicians and businesses. I think it applies here too. What I’d like to see, not that it matters, because I don’t think I’m the target audience here: an event that very evenly mixes fun (musical and dance performances, comedy, etc.) and activism, and loses the corporate pandering (and I say this as someone who snagged a free keychain tool once).