LOVELOUD is an organization founded in 2017 by Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons to “help ignite the vital conversations about what it means to unconditionally love, understand, support, accept, and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community,” according to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). The organization has held yearly charity concerts since 2017 — sans a two year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic — and this year will mark its fifth festival.
According to LOVELOUD’s website, the goal of the concerts is to unite people in the hopes of promoting “unconditional love” for the LGBTQ community in homes and the wider world. The concerts are also intended to remind LGBTQ people that they are not alone through the sharing of music and stories.
In an article for GLAAD, Reynolds stated that “love is our most basic instinct.” LOVELOUD is designed to rejoice in the kind of love too often shunned and unite its patrons under this fundamental aspect of human nature. LOVELOUD is by and for LGBTQ people and their allies, an event where the hope is that all attendants leave feeling loved, seen and accepted.
In the recap videos posted to their website, LOVELOUD’s festivals reveal themselves to be wild, jubilant and lively affairs. Bright-colored outfits abound, pride flags wave on every side, attendants smile widely enough to rival the sunshine spilling over the venue and a collective boundless energy ignites the crowd and performers alike.
The venues are massive to accommodate the huge crowds eager to celebrate queerness, whether it be their own, a loved one’s or in general. The videos make it clear that LOVELOUD festivals are a place to be vocal in support of the LGBTQ community.
According to Variety News, LOVELOUD festivals include not only well-known artists, but local LGBTQ talent, drag queens and speakers. The plethora of opportunities for entertainment is only one of the benefits, though. Profits from the shows go to organizations that support the LGBTQ community.
LOVELOUD’s site reported $550,000 in grants that were distributed among Gender Spectrum, Flourish Therapy, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and other organizations after its 2022 show. In former years, the organization has also donated money to The Trevor Project, GLAAD and the Tegan and Sara Project. According to GLAAD, LOVELOUD has raised over $2 million for nonprofits helping the LGBTQ community across the country since its inception.
LOVELOUD’s website chronicles the evolution of the charity concerts, starting with its first show at Utah Valley University’s Brent Brown Ballpark. The concert drew a crowd of 17,000 people. The next year, at Rice Eccles Stadium, more than 35,000 people attended in-person, with an additional 7 million virtual attendees. 19,000 people attended the 2019 show at the USANA Amphitheater. Though Covid-19 prevented the 2020 and 2021 concerts, LOVELOUD returned in 2022 at the Vivint Arena, with 10,000 people in attendance.
LOVELOUD will be touring from October through November of this year in Washington, Salt Lake City, and Austin, Texas. Tickets for each venue can be purchased on the LOVELOUD website.
