Lauren Jauregui, Iniko, KiNG MALA, and More at Cutting Edge Festival
The Dinah, the world’s largest event and music festival for queer women, is celebrating its 33rdAnniversary September 25th through the 29th, marking its lasting impact on both the LGBTQ+ community and the city of Palm Springs. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit www.TheDinah.com.
Once more, big names make The Dinah 2024 a must-attend queer party destination for everyone’s bucket list. Lauren Jauregui, Iniko, KiNG MALA, Lauren Sanderson, Whitney Peyton, Lucy & La Mer, and Sherrelle Holmes have been announced as headliners for the 33rd edition of the world-renowned festival.
If the past two decades have seen The Dinah take a commanding place in the music festival market, it is all thanks to the event’s founder and producer, Mariah Hanson—the creative mind fueling the magic. Always keeping her finger on the pulse of the music scene, Hanson has secured a stunning line-up featuring an impressive array of high-profile headlining acts and up-and-coming talent.
Celebrating the power of queer expression, these incredible vanguards are bringing their empowerment anthems and true self-revolution to The Dinah stage. And breaking boundaries is all these exceptionally gifted rule-breaking and genre-bending queer artists set out to do.
The iconic festival kicks off one of its main events, The Black and White Ball, with award-winning artist Lauren Jauregui. The multi-platinum Cuban American singer-songwriter and former member of girl group Fifth Harmony embraced her freedom of expression on her 2021 acclaimed independent debut, PRELUDE (AWAL). The pop star and LGBTQ+ activist has collaborated with the likes of Halsey and Steve Aoki to 6lack, Vic Mensa, Ty Dolla $ign, and Russ. Her latest EP, IN BETWEEN, is her sophomore effort, which was recently released following a sold-out Latin American tour.
Adding to the pulsating and exhilarating fabric of The Dinah is multi-talented Brooklyn native Iniko, who takes center stage at the Hollywood Party on Saturday night. As a proud non-binary artist, Iniko uses their music on behalf of the queer community. After rising to fame in 2018, they have amassed a huge following on TikTok, crossing the 4 million follower mark. Iniko’s songs “The King’s Affirmation” and “Jericho” achieved viral success by reaching over 25 million Spotify streams. That success led to a nomination for Outstanding Music Artist at the 2024 GLAAD Media Awards and a Billboard chart debut.
Another highly anticipated headliner is KiNG MALA. The LA-based alternative pop music artist, born Areli Castro, is set to take the stage during the Saturday pool party. With masculine tropes and defiant lyricism KiNG MALA, whose name translates to “king bad bitch,” is on a mission to defy the rules of gender and to encourage her fans to embrace their individuality. Her latest EP, Split Milk, dropped last November and does just that!
Also bringing glitz and glamour to the Dinah’s Hollywood Party is Lauren Sanderson. The rule-breaking and genre-bending queer artist is making a lot of noise with her new anthem for self-love, “They Won’t Like This,” produced by KThrash, the lead single from her upcoming third studio album due out this summer. Since her 2020 debut album Midwest Kids Can Make It Big, Sanderson has earned accolades from MTV, Billboard, PAPER, and Spotify’s New Music Friday. Sanderson made a memorable sneak appearance during The Dinah 2022, joining queer icon Fletcher on stage and whipping the crowd into a frenzy.
From supporting acts like FINNEAS and Chase Atlantic, releasing her viral TikTok banger, “THERAPY!” and a massively successful collaboration with queer icon GFLIP, “GAY 4 ME,” to hitting the road on her 37-city world tour taking her through North America, Europe & the UK, Sanderson’s star continues to rise.
The Dinah pool parties are an experience that is second to none. The Margaritaville Resort’s main pool area, home to The Dinah’s legendary pool parties, is the perfect queer oasis with its massive pool deck and idyllic tropical surroundings.
Whitney Peyton kicks off the pool party weekend series on Friday afternoon, bringing the heat to the festivities. The multi-billboard-charting, Grammy Award-winning contributing rapper, songwriter, and performer rose to prominence in the underground by releasing three albums, two mixtapes & 4 EPs, all independently. Her most recent independently released albums, ‘The Audacity’ and ‘Side Effects,’ achieved Billboard charting numbers. She has graced the main stage at major music festivals, including Pot of Gold alongside Post Malone, GOTJ opening for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, SxSW, and numerous Pride festivals.
The Dinah has always been a festival that celebrates and promotes up-and-coming artists, and nothing exemplifies that ethos more than the Emerging Artist Contest.
“The Dinah’s musical lineup strives to present the boldest and best in queer or queer-friendly music, focusing on signed artists who are either breaking out or have achieved an impressive level of success,” says Mariah Hanson. “But so many unsigned artists wanted to play The Dinah. So, I developed the Emerging Artist Contest, which showcases unsigned artists and offers them a level of exposure that expands their fan base and exposes them to a larger audience. It’s been a huge success.”
The contest, now a Dinah signature event, has shepherded the careers of many talents, including Lucy & La Mer and Sherrelle Holmes, who headline the Sunday pool party. Both queer artists participated in the Emerging Artist Contest in 2023. Still, their music videos were so well produced that Hanson immediately pulled them out and officially added them to the 2024 festival bill.
The Dinah is far beyond a local event; it is a worldwide phenomenon that has seen its community use the incomparable festival as the benchmark for all the others.
This is a unique invitation to revel in the sense of unity and community that permeates the event and embark on a journey into a world of empowerment and inclusivity where true selves are celebrated. Some things just need to be seen to be believed! There is simply nothing like The Dinah in the world.
