The very first one took place in the lane,” says Ghostboy, a resident Mother DJ, recalling the inception of Mother Pride Block Party in 2010. “[It was] outside where the club was on every week. We had a tiny sound system set up in the doorway of one of the buildings and we just partied all day on the street. I’m not sure how we got away with it.”
Rewind with me for a moment to the first Mother Pride Block Party. Picture it, an absolute scorcher of a day, and town is packed to the rafters with people celebrating. The Celtic Tiger is dead, but you can still hear its roars throughout the city. Same-sex marriage hasn’t been legalised yet, and the air is thick with anticipation and desire.
Ireland is in full recession, but today you can feel the sun on your skin, the support of the crowd, and you feel rich. After the march, the usual spots fill up too quickly. Walking through town feels like swimming through a ball pit, but then you reach the corner of Exchange Street and Copper Alley, the roars turn to music, and there’s room to dance.
It wasn’t just a party; it was guerrilla-style, DIY community action. A famous quote from Dan Savage goes, “During the darkest days of the AIDS crisis we buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced all night, and it was the dance that kept us in the fight because it was the dance we were fighting for.”
Fast forward to 2026, and Mother’s annual extravaganza is a massive two-day event with international stars at the nexus of Pride in Ireland. Dancing makes the fight worth it, and the fight is far from over.
Ghostboy emphasises the protest in Pride: “There is a sustained attack on trans people’s existence happening daily in the media, fed by conservative far-right grifters. Pride parades have been banned in some EU countries in recent years. The safety that we maybe took for granted in the years after the success of the Marriage Equality campaign is under threat. Pride is a reminder that we stand together for each other, even when things get difficult.
“It’s an annual reminder that we’ve come a long, long way,” Ghostboy says, “that we can have such a visible party in safety, but also that that freedom was hard fought for, and is constantly under threat. And for all the partying it’s important to remember Pride is still a protest.”
Dancing is not to be taken for granted. It’s somatic, it’s healing, it’s dopamine. Sharing that experience creates and strengthens social connections. It activates our mirror neuron system, allowing us greater empathy. Music serves as an emotional regulator, providing catharsis, comfort, and a sense of belonging. Music and dancing have long been linked to identity and culture.
Dancefloors have been a massive part of DJ Manwelli’s life since he was a teenager in the Italian countryside, going into Milan on the weekends to clubs like Plastic and Glitter, where the creative queer community gathered. He discovered a different scene in London before landing in Dublin.
“Music has always been a huge part of my life,” he states. “Most of the memories that I have from childhood to adulthood, there’s always a song.” A couple of years ago, Manwelli underwent a lifestyle change and transformed how he experienced dancefloors: he decided to start DJing. Playing for the queer community holds utmost importance for him.
“I like to bring always some pop references or movies, or something a bit weird, I love to bring some twists, something unexpected.” Manwelli has only been at it for two years and has already made significant waves, carving out his own space in the Dublin queer scene. He started playing at home, took some lessons, and observed what other DJs were doing. While everyone else at the club was dancing, he was taking notes.
Before long, he was playing in a collective and bagged his first solo DJ gig for the opening of Queer Hawk. Now, Manwelli is on opening duties at Mother Pride Block Party, after organising a hugely successful Queer Rave for ShoutOut in May.
“I love when people feel like they just love themselves in the dance, without any choreography.” He says Block Party-goers can expect some Blessed Madonna, Horse Meat Disco, Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’, and Cormac’s ‘Leather ‘n Lasers’ from his set. “It’s our day to celebrate,” he concludes.
Meanwhile, Ghostboy has been on the decks for over three decades and is still going strong. “I’m a music lover through and through, and I love nothing more than sharing music I love with other people,” he says.
“I love sparking a reaction from a crowd of people dancing, and I wasn’t any good with traditional music instruments!”
His favourite part of DJing is “when a track clicks with the audience, especially a new or forgotten track, and you can see and feel the excitement build in pockets of the crowd, and it spreads through them, seeing them come together under the spell of the music. It’s magical.”
DJ Glamo shares the same appreciation for the dancefloor and the dancers. “I just love the people who come to [Mother],” she tells GCN.
“I just love the energy of the club. I love the community of it. I love what (Mother co-founders) Lisa and Cormac do. They work hard to create something, to create fun for us. I just love being a part of that, and I love the wow factor when I wear something, and people get to see that in a queer setting that they’re just not going to see anywhere else. And I think that, to me, is really important. You get to be part of something… You get to be included.”
Glamo is feeding her rescue chihuahua, Poppins (AKA Mary Poppins, AKA Mary Poppers), when we talk. She is known for her showstopping statement outfits when she DJs, and has been non-stop rhinestoning in preparation for this year’s Block Party.
“The headpiece is fully rhinestoned. I’m doing it in collaboration with a creator called Andrew Ryan, who has many talents.” Ryan has previously created crowns for Maya Rudolph and Amy Adams for the Disney film Disenchanted.
“He just offered to come to my house and teach me some skills.”
The pair’s collaboration on Glamo’s headpiece has been hugely organic, and the piece plays on the relationship between organic and mechanical.
“When I’m DJing, I’m on the decks, that’s not organic at all. That’s a piece of equipment. So it’s kind of integrating those two things that don’t seem like they match, mixing the different parts of ourselves and finding that space in between where we coexist.” The statement is just that, coexisting.
The surprise piece is “definitely something magical,” says Glamo, “and it’s going to be joyful.” She says it’s “hopefully gonna knock people’s socks off. That’s the plan. We want to give them something really special for Pride, because it’s a celebration of the community, and it’s a celebration of coming together.”
I asked how she factors function into the production of her pieces.
“I have to be able to perform in it, because when I started making headpieces, first, they were very much a mask, so they hid my face, but also they hid the decks.”
Glamo watches and listens to the people on her dancefloor, now that she can see out of her headpieces. She thinks it’s important to take requests and listen directly to your audience when they tell you what they want. Glamo is a fan of “the kids”, as she lovingly calls them – the crowds at her gigs. She even feels starstruck when she sees them out and about doing their shopping and the like. It’s something about the dancefloor, the way people express themselves, interact, the magic of it all. Remember, the dance is what we’re fighting for.
Catch Ghostboy, Manwelli, Glamo and many more fabulous acts at the Mother Pride Block Party weekend on June 26 and 27. Tickets are available via Eventbrite.