There’s some head-scratching among those planning to attend this Saturday's Pride Weekend music festival previously called SoSF, after the event lost Kehlani as headliner, then changed its name and location, and deleted all social media posts.
There was great promise when we heard the news in early April that a new Pride Weekend music festival was coming on the Saturday of Pride Weekend, called SoSF. It boasted headliners Kehlani, Kim Petras, and Tinashe, plus a number of well-known local acts on the under card, and would be thrown at Pier 80, home of the Portola Festival that generally draws 40,000 attendees per day.
But come early June, it made news Kehlani pulled out of the lineup, likely because of the vocalist’s outspoken views condemning Israeli military aggression against Palestine. That’s when we also learned that the festival had moved its location to the much smaller venue The Midway across the street. And now, SFGate reports that the festival has changed its name and scrubbed it social media accounts.
You can see above the now-empty Instagram page for SoSF which had previously been full of posts. SFGate point out that the event has changed its name to Pride '25 Block Party, with a third-party ticketing website now getting a redirect when you visit their former homepage SoSF.co.
It seems to be poorly handled communications over the Kehlani fallout contributing to event producer Fake and Gay pulling out too, as well as the Reparations drag show hosted by Nikki Jizz.
“This is supposed to be a Pride event, and you’re not listening to us,” Fake and Gay founder Adam Kraft told SFGate. “You’re not listening to the hundreds of people in the comments, the whole community that you’re supposed to be representing during Pride.”
In fairness, the event that's now called Pride '25 Block Party has added the German DJ HorsegiirL to the lineup since the above-mentioned changes. And the festival's overall Saturday lineup still features previously announced acts Heidi Montag, Noodles, and Fineasslanecia, as well as local acts Electroluxx Silent Disco, the Heavy Petting Zoo art car, and the SF Gay Men's Choir.
Image: WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 31: Kim Petras performs onstage at the OUTLOUD Music Festival at the 2025 WeHo Pride on May 31, 2025 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
