Chicago DJ Ethan Cole brings his sound to Tampa Pride, March 26

Ethan Cole – a resident DJ at Hydrate Nightclub in Chicago's Boystown neighborhood on the third Sunday of every month for House Collective – brings his sound to Tampa Pride on Sunday, March 26, marking his first-ever visit to the Florida city.

He will be spinning at Pride @ Night, their closing party.

“I’m flattered to be a part of (Tampa Pride),” said Cole, who lives in Lakeview. “It will be nice to be in some warmer weather for the weekend.”

Cole, who has been DJing for seven years, played PrideFest in Chicago in 2021 and a private party for the Chicago Pride Parade in 2022. “I’m really excited to play a Pride event outside of Chicago and Milwaukee.”

Still, he added, “I’m grateful that Chicago puts on two Pride weekends in June. With all the recent anti-LGBTQ legislation being debated and passed in other states, I’m proud to call Chicago home.”

Cole said his favorite Pride was Chicago, 2021, when he played the Waveland Stage. “I walked up to the booth and saw the equipment provided was brand new and very recently released by Pioneer.  I had never used (that equipment) before, so it was fun to learn while playing a live set.”

Plus, Cole added, “It was the first Pride back since (the start of the pandemic), held in early October, when it was still warm and had just started to rain. I was a little nervous that people would shelter in the bars instead of coming out to the stages. I was so delighted to see the  (opposite happen): people were living their best life dancing in the rain.”

Cole attended this year’s Winter Party Festival – an annual, week-long celebration of music, dance, and community, produced by the National LGBTQ Task Force to raise critical funds for the LGBTQ movement. The 30th Winter Party was held March 1-7 in Miami Beach.

Winter Party is Cole’s favorite party weekend of the year, he said, and this was the third year he’s attended.

Now Spinning …. DJ Ethan Cole

Favorite DJs: Yinon Yahel, Sagi Kariv, Mor Avrahami, Tom Stephan and Micky Friedmann

All-time Favorite DJing Gig: A party in Minneapolis called Anomaly.  “On top of the production and venue blowing my expectations out of the water, the concept of the party was so original to me.