|
FOLLOWING
A
SERIES
of
financial
struggles,
Miami’s
popular
Winter
Party
is
set
to
celebrate
its
12th
year
March
2-7,
with
new
ownership
and
an
all-star
lineup
of
activities.
The
2005
festival
is
scheduled
to
include
10
dance
parties
with
some
of
the
circuit’s
top
talent:
DJs
Abel,
Phil
B,
Joe
Gauthreaux,
Kris
Kono,
Manny
Lehman,
Tony
Moran,
Lydia
Prim
and
Peter
Rauhofer.
The
main
event
will
be
the
afternoon
Beach
Party
on
Saturday,
March
6,
with
DJ
Roland
Belmares.
In
addition,
during
the
week
there
will
be
a
performance
by
comedian
Margaret
Cho,
a
film
screening
hosted
by
the
Miami
Gay
&
Lesbian
Film
Festival,
a
tour
of
local
art
galleries
and
a
VIP
reception
with
the
cast
of
“Queer
as
Folk.”
The
DoubleTree
Surfcomber
Hotel,
which
sits
oceanfront
along
South
Beach’s
popular
Collins
Avenue,
is
the
host
hotel.
Tickets
for
individual
events
start
as
low
as
$15
and
a
VIP
Titanium
pass
that
allows
access
to
all
events
is
$525.
For
details,
access
www.winterparty.com.
The
National
Gay
&
Lesbian
Task
Force
bought
the
Winter
Party
from
the
now-defunct
Gay
&
Lesbian
Foundation
of
South
Florida.
With
proceeds
from
the
event,
during
the
past
decade
the
Foundation
was
able
to
provide
more
than
$1
million
to
charities
throughout
South
Florida.
Task
Force
organizers
plan
to
continue
to
funnel
a
portion
of
the
funds
raised
from
the
event
into
South
Florida
groups
and
have
tapped
the
Dade
Community
Foundation
to
manage
local
grant
giving.
Lesbian
travel
specialist
Olivia
has
added
performances
by
Grammy
Award
winners
Melissa
Etheridge
and
Mary
Chapin
Carpenter
to
its
2005
schedule.
Etheridge
is
scheduled
to
be
the
headliner
on
the
agency’s
Eastern
Caribbean
Cruise
in
early
April.
Comedians
Suzanne
Westenhoefer,
Vickie
Shaw
and
Amy
Boyd,
as
well
as
a
number
of
emerging
musical
talents,
also
are
scheduled
to
perform.
In
addition,
there
will
be
a
special
advance
screening
of
an
episode
from
the
2005
season
of
“The
L
Word,”
which
was
filmed
on
one
of
Olivia’s
previous
cruises.
Passengers
are
scheduled
to
depart
from
Fort
Lauderdale,
Fla.,
on
April
3
and
head
to
Turks
&
Caicos,
the
Virgin
Islands
and
Bahamas’
Half
Moon
Cay,
and
return
on
April
10.
The
seven-day
cruise
starts
at
$1,499
per
person
for
double
occupancy;
airfare
is
extra.
Carpenter
will
be
one
of
the
entertainers
on
Olivia’s
Alaska
Discovery
Cruise,
May
8-15.
The
cruise
also
will
include
an
Author’s
Expo,
with
workshops,
a
book
exchange
and
appearances
by
writers
such
as
Sarah
Waters,
Dorothy
Allison
and
Katherine
V.
Forrest.
The
starting
price
for
this
cruise
is
$1,942.
A
complete
listing
of
Olivia’s
2005
offerings
is
available
at
www.olivia.com
or
at
800-631-6277.
After
its
December
2004
issue,
the
gay
travel
publication
Out
&
About
stopped
printing
its
newsletter.
Its
content
will
now
only
be
available
online
to
premium
members
of
Gay.com.
Founded
in
1992,
Out
&
About
provides
details
about
gay
travel
news
from
lodging,
dining,
and
sightseeing
to
nightlife
and
shopping.
 |
 |
| The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by floridablade.com. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed. |
|
| 
