Chicago’s LGBTQ bars prepare for Pride Fest, Pride Parade – Crain’s Chicago Business

Chicago Pride Fest and the Pride Parade are returning to Chicago this month in their proper form for the first time since pre-pandemic, and the city’s LGBTQ bars are preparing for an onslaught of business.

The crowds are more than welcome. The city’s gay bars suffered mightily the last two years, in line with other establishments in the industry. Summer festivals, including Pride, bring in a big chunk of business for them. The Pride Parade will march by many of their doors for the first time in two years, and that is a sign of recovery.

“There’s going to be a very large turnout for the festival this year,” said Mark Liberson, owner of gay nightclub Hydrate, which is in a part of the Lakeview neighborhood formerly known as Boystown (now called Northalsted). “There is pent-up demand and eagerness certainly for the return of the Pride Parade.”

Liberson, who also owns gay bars Replay and Elixir Lounge, which both have locations in Northalsted and Andersonville, said his businesses “lost a fortune” during the pandemic.

And challenges remain, even as the city’s gay bars welcome back Pride crowds. Supply chain issues and inflation have driven drink prices higher at some establishments, and certain basic bar necessities—from tonic water to tequila—are hard to come by. Staffing remains an issue, and there’s the ever-fickle Chicago weather that threatens to put a damper on celebrations. Additionally, Chicago has lately been at a medium-risk level for COVID-19 transmission.

Still, LGBTQ bar owners are optimistic about the coming festivities, which include Pride Fest this weekend in Northalsted and the Pride Parade, which travels a route through Lincoln Park and Lakeview on June 26.

Andersonville’s Midsommarfest last weekend was a sign of how big business might be.

For Atmosphere, a gay bar in Andersonville, the turnout during Midsommarfest was record-breaking, said co-owner Micah Hilgendorf. He also owns The North End, a gay sports bar near the intersection of Halsted Street and North Broadway in Northalsted, and the Lucky Horseshoe Lounge, which features go-go dancers, a few blocks south. The Pride Parade will march by both establishments.

The parade has not been held since 2019. The city canceled Pride Fest completely in 2020, and pushed it to October 2021. Even then, it didn’t draw in business like it usually does, Hilgendorf said.

“People were not coming out,” he said. “The street fests . . . account for 10% of my income through the year, so losing that revenue is a big deal.”

Hilgendorf’s businesses were kept alive with the help of Paycheck Protection Program loans, and other federal assistance. He said he still has a balance in his account from the loans, which were forgiven, that he’s saving “in case the other shoe drops.”

He has raised prices at his bars, to offset rising inflation. Prices for tequila are up—when he can get it—as are other products. Drink prices are up about 50 cents to $1, depending on the product. Hilgendorf said he raised prices once before New Year’s, and again just before Memorial Day.

Customers haven’t complained much, and Hilgendorf thinks that’s partially because people have pent-up desire to go to bars. He said he’s seeing more parties being booked and is sponsoring more recreational sports teams than any time since pre-pandemic.

“It was a terrible, terrible confusing time, but I think were stronger on the other side of it,” he said. “People are so ready to go out.”

Nobody’s Darling in Andersonville is also anticipating an uptick in business during Pride Month. The Black, lesbian-owned bar staffed up for the weekends in June, said co-owner Angela Barnes.

The cocktail bar, which opened in May 2021, was just two blocks from Midsommarfest. Barnes isn’t anticipating the same rush of customers for Pride festivities, since they’re not in her neighborhood, but she does expect people will make the trip up from Northalsted to patronize an LGBTQ bar.

“Our usual customers have been asking us, ‘What are you guys doing?’ ” she said. “There’s clearly this anticipation of what might be happening at our bar.”