Just added to the Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend Line Up

LA REID, PHARRELL WILLIAMS & JERMAINE DUPRI’S NEW PROTÉGÉ

LEAH LABELLE

JUST ADDED TO CLUB SKIRTS DINAH SHORE WEEKEND LINE-UP.

The Former American Idol Contestant, Now Music’s New “It” Girl

Is Ready To “SEXIFY”

The Dinah’s Monte Carlo Party!

PALM SPRINGS, CA – Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend has just announced the addition of Leah LaBelle to its 2013 Entertainment line-up.

Building on its reputation as the inescapable venue for new recording artists to breakthrough, in less than 2 decades, Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend – the largest Lesbian event in the world - has positioned itself as a trendsetting event that entertainment industry insiders watch and jockey to book their artists’ performances.

As a MUST DO venue that has proven to be the catalyst propelling new young artist to superstar status, The Dinah was a logical choice for LaBelle’s record Label and agency (CAA), who reached out to Mariah Hanson (founder & producer of The Dinah) for a coveted spot on the 2013 Dinah Talent Roster.

Now following the footsteps of Lady Gaga. Katy Perry, The Pussy Cat Dolls, Kesha, Dev and Neon Hitch (to name a few), who, post-Dinah, have all gone to become Grammy/VMA winners, #1 Billboard charters, and international hitmakers, LaBelle is set to perform during the Dinah “Monte Carlo” party held on Saturday, April 6 at the Palm Springs Convention Center, following the buzz-heavy headlining performance by pop duo Karmin.

Showcasing her sensational voice and flare, the talented young artist will deliver a variety of songs from her new album (due out this year) including the hit single “Sexify” and her new track “Lolita”, produced by Pharrell Williams, which recently premiered on Complex.com.

No stranger to the music industry, Labelle was a contestant on the 3rd season of American Idol, bowing out at a respectable 12th position.  While she certainly made her marks on the TV show, it was her YouTube videos that made her an overnight phenomenon. As a result she landed gigs singing backup for such artists as Jordin Sparks, The Jonas Brothers, Eric Benet and Britney Spears.

The Canadian-born daughter of Bulgarian refugees eventually caught the eyes and ears of L.A. Reid, Pharrell Williams and Jermaine Dupri who signed her to a joint deal with their respective labels, Epic Records, i.am.OTHER and So So Def Recordings.

This former American Idol contestant turned backup singer, turned Youtube sensation (phew!), has now turned music’s new “IT” girl, making a whole lot of noise as a solo artist.

A star in the making Leah LaBelle is about to blow up so make sure you come along for the ride …

To purchase tickets go to: www.TheDinah.com

As One In The Park 2013, a new LGBT festival for London

 

What: As One in the Park Festival 2013
When: Sunday 26 May
Time: 12pm - 10pm
Where: Victoria Park, Hackney, London E9 7DB
Tickets: £40 (£35 early bird sold out) and limited £75 VIP tickets

---

When I first moved to London over 10 years ago now, I used to go along to Finsbury Park to the Big Gay Out. For years now, there has been nothing like it, and I, as well as many of my friends have certainly noticed this. London, such a gay-friendly hub is definitely lacking. Thankfully, Orange Nation have got together with Saturn Star, and in May 2013 will be hosting 'As One in the Park'.

The list of names just keeps on growing. So far announced are:

RITA ORA

CONOR MAYNARD

KATY B

UNION J

SKIN (DJ SET)

RYLAN

OFFER NISSIM

BOY GEORGE & MARK VEDO

PEYTON

+

VERY SPECIAL GUEST:

HOLLY JOHNSON

+

MORE LIVE ACTS TO BE ANNOUNCED

OVER 100 ARTISTS, BRANDS & DJS, OVER 9 ARENAS

As One in the Park will be held in Victoria Park, in Hackney (E9 7DB - nearest tube/train is Mile End) on Sunday 26 May (Bank Holiday weekend).

Presented by Orange Nation, As One In The Park will be the first credible large-scale gay festival in London for over a decade, putting the capital in line with other major European cities.


Victoria Park is firmly established as a prime festival site, already playing host to events including Field Day. As One In The Park is the day after Field Day and will be using their infrastructure and production crew.

There are plenty of transport options available:
Bus Routes: 8, 277, 309, 339, 388, D3, D6, S2
Hackney Wick (East London line), Cambridge Heath (National Rail) and Bethnal Green (National Rail)
Mile End (District and Central lines), Bow Road (District Line), Stratford (Jubilee Line), Bow Church (DLR) and Bethnal Green (Central line).

What to expect?
There will also be 4 large indoor arenas and 5 additional stages, which will be hosted by some of the world’s leading gay party brands. The Circuit Arena will be presented by international circuit parties, Matinee, WE Party, The Week, Scream, and Rapido, while the Best Of British Arena will be hosted by Beyond, Orange, and Salvation. Other brands involved in the event will be Delooded, Shadow Lounge, Popstarz, Bearracuda, Madame Jojo’s, FNDHRR, Girl Action, L Fest, Mint, Code, Ku Bar, Rupert Street and Comptons with more to be announced.


Tickets are available from the website. A limited number of exclusive VIP Tickets are available.

VIP ticket benefits include:
FAST TRACK ENTRY |  COMPLEMENTARY GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE |  ENTRY TO SHADOW LOUNGE EXCLUSIVE VIP VILLAGE (behind the Main Stage) |  VIP BAR |
TABLE SERVICE |  PREMIUM SPIRITS |  VIP TOILETS

Tickets to As One in the Park are only available to those aged 18 and over as this is a licensed event.


There is a detailed FAQ section on the website that covers everything from accessibility to what not to bring, what is allowed, re-entry, facilities and more.  http://www.asoneinthepark.co.uk/contact.html

About Orange Nation
For those of you who haven't heard of Orange Nation, and are wondering who they are, here is a bit of history:

The Orange Nation is the UK’s largest gay promotions company. ON is a collective of LGBT club promoters who operate large internationally renowned parties including Beyond, We Party and Matinee in venues across London including Electric Brixton and The Coronet Theatre. ON also owns South London based nightclub venues Fire, The Lightbox, Area, Protocol and Covert.

ON has a strong history within the LGBT London community as the leading nightlife promotions group and has been featured to represent London’s dance scene at events including London Pride (host of the Soho Square Dance Stage) and to represent the UK internationally at events including Barcelona Circuit Festival and at cities including Paris, Ibiza, Rome and more.

Find out more, following As One on Twitter or Facebook or buy your tickets before they sell out!

Website: http://www.asoneinthepark.co.uk
Twitter https://twitter.com/AsOneInThePark
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AsOneInThePark?fref=ts

Feature by Naomi Bennett-Hall

Fringe! is back and better than ever

http://fringefilmfest.com/2013-programme

Fringe! Film Festival, East London: Thursday 11th April – Sunday 14th April 2013

East London’s annual alternative queer film and arts festival is proud to reveal its exciting 2013 programme.
 
Four days of enhanced screenings, world premieres, queer classics and cult rarities, Fringe! continues to mix great gay film with high-energy creative events, art happenings, oddball performance, discussion and debate – and upbeat after parties – with many events free!

OPENING AND CLOSING FILMS

European Premiere: FIVE DANCES
World Premiere: AND YOU BELONG

Fringe! is proud to present the European Premiere of writer-director Alan Brown’s Five Dances as its opening night screening at Hackney Picturehouse. A special collaboration with renowned choreographer Jonah Bokaer, Brown builds a tight-toned narrative around five gifted New York dancers in a classic tale of finding success and love in the big city. Fringe! is also proud to present the World Premiere of Julia Ostertag’s And You Belong as its closing night screening, a documentary that uncovers the queer music underground via two-girl electro hip hop band Scream Club – screened at Arcola Tent.

“I'm honoured that Five Dances has been chosen as the Opening Night film of London's Fringe! Film Fest 2013. It's a fantastic venue and audience for our European Premiere, and our whole team is grateful to be part of such a young, cutting-edge festival. On a personal note, I'm really looking forward to flying over and experiencing the festival in person.”
Alan Brown, director, Five Dances

“I am really glad to have the world premiere for And You Belong, my feature doc about  two-girl electro hip hop band Scream Club and the queer music underground, at this year’s Fringe!. The festival is driven by the same spirit that lets me make films – or that lets the people in my film make music: a fresh, queer DIY attitude seeking new forms of expression with a positive but rebellious energy that crosses boundaries and connects people in creative networks – just like the two girls of Scream Club.”
Julia Ostertag, director, And You Belong

LIMITED VISIBILITY

Limited Visibility is a focus on marginalised groups in the LGBT community via two special strands on senior LGBT individuals and those living with HIV (2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the isolation of the HIV virus) and is supported by Film London’s Community Pilot Fund. New documentaries Gen Silent and deepsouth contrast with classic works from the archive, including Barbara Hammer’s Nitrate Kisses, Rosa von Praunheim’s Silence=Death, and a specially curated screening of Derek Jarman’s The Garden.

CELEBRATING QUEER CINEMA

Fringe! also presents a series of new or ultra-rare queer films including:

• World premiere of One Zero One: The Story of Cybersissy and BayBJane
• UK Premiere of Satan’s Angel, the story of the legendary lesbian burlesque artist
• Hide & Seek about four extraordinary LGBT people in Pakistan
• World premiere of Travis Mathews’ saucy In Their Room London

·         Exclusive collaborations with Bruce LaBruce, Straight To Hell magazine, Jonny Woo, The Most Cake and Little Joe magazine

REVAMPED CLASSICS
 

·         Mean Girls – an anarchic screening of this pop culture classic hosted by Holestar, as voted for by the Fringe! audience at the Dalston Rio, with a ‘Mean Girls’ themed after party at Dalston Superstore.

• Lesbian classics Itty Bitty Titty Committee and But I’m a Cheerleader
• Rosa von Praunheim’s It’s Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse But the Society He Lives In which caused a scandal in Germany when released in 1973

·         Gays on TV programme showing rarely seen TV documentaries from the 1970s and 1980s

 
FRINGE! ART
 
Fringe! presents four art exhibitions including:

• Bob Mizer: a special focus on the seminal photographer, filmmaker and pornographer with an exhibition of wrestling videos and two film programmes

·         Freya Najade: If You’re Lucky You Get Old. An exhibition of photographs by the London-based photographer chronicling the lives of gay seniors in retirement homes in the US

ICONIC VENUES
For 2013, Fringe! presents its strapping programme of film, creative events, art happenings, performance, discussion and debate across major venues in east London, including Hackney Picturehouse, The Rio in Dalston, the Aubin Cinema, the Arcola Tent and an old Catholic girls’ school that will house screenings, events, a pop-up genderqueer barber shop, sex workshops and the Little Joe Classroom.

Alex Karotsch, Film Festival Producer, said:
“We are thrilled to bring back Fringe! for the third year running, building on the success of the festival in 2012 which saw a record number of attendees and events over a long weekend in April. This year we will again be working with brilliant directors, artists and performers to bring you an exciting programme of international films, great art and events – from the weird to the wonderful.”

Liberte and Habibi - 2 great club nights

If you're looking for a new night, or perhaps haven't been to Liberté or Habibi in a while, why not check them out in March or April? Liberté has been around a whopping 16 years and is still going strong.

Liberté 16th birthday

Brixton Club House, 469 Brixton Road, London SW9 8HH
11pm - 4am
£8 before midnight, £10 after; £7 students all night
 
We gon' party like it's yo birthday celebrating 16 years of Liberté.
Come and bust ya moves to the best party anthems in London town with the sexist women, studs and boiz.
The DJs drop the finest RnB, Hip Hop, Bashment, Funky House, Afrobeats, Soca, Ol’ School and Reggae London Lesbian club scene has to offer

Surprise Live P.A
DJ Misty B, Nikki Lucas, Smoochie and MC Brandy
Catch us on facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Liberté/130319420409465  

WEB: http://www.liberteclub.co.uk/

HABIBI Club London - the Hot Harem of LGBT ClubbingWhen: Easter-N special Easter Thursday 28th March
10.30pm till 3.30am
WHERE: EMBER, 99-100 Turnmills Steet, Farringdon EC1 5QP

£5 Students/ £8 B4 midnight / £10 After
FREE ENTRY to Drag Artists

 
DESCRIPTION:
Habibi has move to a brand new Gay venue- Ember in Farringdon.
Habibi is a sizzling blend of progressive beats and treats from the Middle East, the Mediterranean with Urban smashers thrown in.
This gorgeous, glamorous, magnetic and cosmopolitan club night attracts a crowd similar to its music. Diverse, inclusive, hot and with no borders!!
DJ Nikki Lucas, Qurra, Lil’ Ray & Special Guests.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HabibiClubLondon?ref=hl
Web: http://www.habibiclublondon.com/

LLGFF Preview – a taste of what’s to come…

A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet?

To a packed audience of LLGFF fans and supporters, the programming team from the BFI kicked off the hype for this year’s festival – the 27^th – showcasing an eclectic mix of what’s on offer from the expanded 10 day programme, taking place between 14^th – 24^th March at BFI Southbank.

Last year, there were 21,000 attendances at films, which shattered expectations. Since then the BFI has relaunched its strategy and priorities and the LLGFF is at the heart of how the BFI is delivering on its strategy.

This year, the programming is structured differently to previous years. Three themes: Hearts (love, romance, friendship),  Bodies (sex, identity and transformation) & Minds (art, politics and community) guide the selection of films and ensure that the programme is able to reflect the diversity of the LGBT community and films being made from within the community.

Tickets are on sale from 26^th February for BFI members, and to the general public shortly after that. 

The full programme is available  at http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?EID=b498a642-66b5-46d7-9624-ef236f4945e2.

Get in quick as tickets are always selling like hot potatoes, and following the trailer preview, this year will be no different, as always the selection is very exciting.

Look out on the Planet London events calendar as all of the key lesbian films and events will be published there.

*** BUY TICKETS FROM 26 FEBRUARY ***

A change of name?

In further exciting news, the trail and teaser for the 27^th LLGFF is whether the name, the BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival to give it its full moniker is still relevant and reflective of the event. BFI are encouraging debate and suggestions on the matter. Visit the website  to find out more and view the trailer.

FindHrr launches on the iPhone

New iPhone app, FindHrr launched this month. Discover and connect with other gay and bisexual women. Available now, free from the App Store, it’s set to take the lesbian world by storm.

Besides simply playing Cupid, facilitating new dates and friendships across the globe, FindHrr uses geo-technology and pin-mapping to position lesbian users in relation to local gay goings-on.

Whether you’re at home, away or planning a holiday, expand the horizons of your “scene” and discover new hangouts. Keen travellers can locate gay districts worldwide – from Soho, London to Castro, San Francisco – and browse recommendations of lesbian-friendly hotels.

FindHrr offers a comprehensive and reliable A-Z of gay bars, clubs and events the world over. It also gives users the lowdown on lesbian-friendly restaurants and cafes, providing the essential drinking and dining directory.

In the ‘Erotica’ section, you’ll find a titillating yet tasteful guide to local hotspots at your fingertips. If you’re after some raunchy retail therapy, flick through to find sex shops in the vicinity. Please note, however, that images featuring nudity are strictly prohibited on both venue listings and personal profiles.

After all that indulgence, make use of the app’s ‘Well-Being’ and ‘Sport’ facilities, which direct you to local gyms, exercise classes and ladies’ sports teams. You’ll need to recharge your batteries if you want to make the most of your city stay, so why not preen and pamper yourself at one of our listed hairdressers and beauty salons?

The lesbian’s answer to TripAdvisor, FindHrr revolutionises the experience of travelling, socialising and networking. The app offers impartial and trustworthy advice from likeminded women, making it easy and fun to plan your next adventure. Users can share experiences and upload photos to each venue listing, with comments updated in real-time.

The app presently covers 150 cities, but with regular updates in the pipeline, users can follow FindHrr’s quest for global domination.

FindHrr Launch Party!
FindHrr officially launches in London at the One Love party at Area in Vauxhall. Planet London is running a competition to win 2 tickets to One Love. Enter the competition and find out more about the launch party here.

Film: A Perfect Ending comes to DVD

This well paced film, with an all-star cast, and an unexpected twist, reminds us that we should live every day as if it's our last.
 
A repressed and uptight socialite, Rebecca (the beautiful Barbara Niven) lives a perfect and pointless life. She is the ideal wife to her husband (John Heard) and mother to her three children. But she places their happiness over her own, until now.

Rebecca has a secret, something her friends don't even know. The last person that she expects to reveal it to is a high priced escort named Paris (True Blood's Jessica Clark).

Rebecca could never have guessed that through Paris, she would discover the answers she’s been searching for. Her journey to raw passion allows her to reclaim her body and her sexuality.
 
From renowned woman's director, Nicole Conn (Elena Undone) comes a powerful film of female sexuality and empowerment, and the strength that exists between women.

View the trailer http://muvi.es/w2935

A PERFECT ENDING is available to purchase from 11^th February from Amazon

Or...

WIN your own copy from Planet London - visit our competition page!