A house and dance music diva whose hits were part of the 1990s soundtrack will be in Bermuda for the weekend as residents turn out to mark Pride 2025.

Crystal Waters, the songwriter and singer whose hits Gypsy Woman and 100% Pure Love proved popular with Bermuda listeners, will grace the stage in Victoria Park on Saturday as the LGBTQ+ charity OutBermuda invites the island to join a display of unity and support with the Pride Parade through the streets of Hamilton.

Najib Chentouf, the project manager for the schedule of events, said the free show was among several new touches to the annual celebration.

“It’s certainly growing roots and becoming more and more established,” said Mr Chentouf of Bermuda Pride, which has switched to July this year from its previous timing in August.

“This is our fifth iteration and the support and momentum displayed for the first one is still needed.

“There are still rights and issues that need to be addressed for the community.”

He added: “Pride is still very much about awareness as well as protest and as well as celebration.

“There are still things that are needed for the community. It’s a celebration of all that has been accomplished as well as bringing awareness.”

The island hosted its groundbreaking first series of Pride events in 2019, culminating in a parade that brought thousands on to the streets of Hamilton.

The year the featured artist will perform before attendees set out on the march at about 3pm.

Mr Chentouf said: “We’ve had Bermudian artists who have performed overseas but this is the first time that we’ve had an international artist.

“We’re really excited to have Crystal Waters to ramp up the celebrations and we hope folks come out and enjoy her completely free performance.

“She will start at 2pm in Victoria Park and it’s an all-age affair.”

Waters, a favourite of Bermuda’s own DJLT in the 1990s, has never looked back from her heyday, with singles as recently as 2020.

Mr Chentouf said that OutBermuda had been on the lookout for “artists who are queer-friendly and who have performed at Pride elsewhere and Crystal Waters came up as an artist Bermudians would recognise, particularly Bermudians of a certain age”.

“Her music was popular when I was out and about back then — it’s got that longevity that we thought would be a great addition to the park.”

He added: “This year we will do the Party in the Park before the parade as a crescendo with the parade as the grand finale.

“Our theme this year is ‘Pride is Protest. Pride is Power. Pride is Us’. We’re really leaning into that and inviting everybody to come out.

“The park will open at noon with entertainment from DJ Korie Minors and artists such as Hannah Bushara, Aalai and the Rated E Dance Group.

“We’ll have speakers, food vendors, a bar, a kids area with a fun castle and games, all to create a welcoming atmosphere and build energy towards the parade.

“Once that section is done, we’ll get everybody to muster for the parade.”

Mingled with the entertainment will be addresses to the crowd by Joshua Samuels, OutBermuda’s executive director, as well as Linda Bogle Mienzer and Chen Foley.

Mr Chentouf said that while the celebrations centred on the experiences of Bermuda’s LGBTQ+ community, he emphasised that Pride was “for everyone”.

He added: “The queer community are our family members, our neighbours and our co-workers — the queer community is our community and we really want everybody to show up for the community and for Pride.”