Features
Grace Jones May Join Wotapalava
O’Connor, who was originally one of the festival headliners, announced at the end of May that she was dropping off the tour for family related reasons.
The festival’s booking agent at Creative Artists Agency would not confirm that Jones has been added to the bill or that efforts to get O’Connor on a few dates had been aborted.
According to Pet Shop Boy / Wotapalava mastermind Neil Tennant, the original plan for the festival was to have a roster of just gay artists. However, in order to show that “individuality is more important than sexuality,” the lineup is now more diverse.
The main stage performers will include the Pet Shop Boys, Rufus Wainwright, Soft Cell, and The Magnetic Fields. The second stage features continuous dance music from Junior Vasquez, Danny Tenaglia, Peter Rauhoefer, Tracy Young, Abel, Tom Stephan, Tasty Tim, Susan Morabito, and other artists, including Broadway and cabaret performers.
One dollar from each ticket will benefit the work of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian and gay advocacy organization. In turn, HRC will share a portion of the proceeds with local youth organizations serving the LGBT community.
Wotapalava kicks off July 13 in Miami and ends August 11 near Houston, Texas.