This year’s entertainment lineup for San Diego LGBT Pride’s two-day festival in Balboa Park highlights local and national talent for its 30th anniversary celebration, “Strength in Numbers”. Over 16 performers will take to the main stage during the festival this weekend, including headliners Berlin with Terri Nunn, dance diva Kristine W and returning favorites like Sue Palmer, Danielle LoPresti and The Masses and Skott Freedman. Immediately following the festival on Sunday, Aug. 1, at 9:00 p.m., k.d. lang will perform with the San Diego Symphony at the Starlight Bowl.

The festival itself features ’80s favorite Berlin performing a string of their classic hits including “The Metro” and the Top Gun anthem “Take My Breath Away”, and Kristine W, who will perform her repertoire of Billboard dance hits including “Some Lovin’” which was featured on Showtime’s “Queer As Folk”. Additionally, La Internacional Sonora Show, formerly known as La Sonora Dinamita, brings their acclaimed blend of Latin music and dancing to the main stage, as does pop and jazz diva Maxine Nightingale, whose “Right Back Where We Started From” topped the charts in 24 countries in the 1970s.

Toronto-based Kelly and the Kelly Girls will perform their signature brand of rock, which has been compared to the styles of David Bowie and Iggy Pop.

The mixed-gender country rock group Girlyman plays as well. Doris Muramatsu, Nate Borofsky and Ty Greenstein make up this quirky, modern-day version of Peter, Paul & Mary. All longtime musicians, the trio generates a rich, poignant, playful sound that crosses genres and genders. Each member plays a range of instruments, including acoustic guitar, djembe, banjo, baritone guitar and mandolin. Girlyman has performed at Club Passim in Boston and Fez in New York City, and has been featured on the PBS newsmagazine In the Life for their broad range of musical styles.

San Francisco-based open-mic regular Alicia Champion will also perform; she has earned a devoted San Diego following due to regular appearances all over the city, and her gritty rock n’ roll sound has garnered accolades in the national press. Champion has shared the stage with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Melissa Etheridge, Sophie B. Hawkins, Pat Benatar, Alix Olson and Danielle LoPresti and The Masses.

The musical lineup also includes a long list of local performers, both returning favorites and those new to the scene.

“We really like to involve our local talent so I always try to fit them into the schedule,” said Suanne Pauley, executive director of San Diego LGBT Pride.

Pop singer/songwriter Skott Freedman, who recently relocated to San Diego, brings his soulful lyrics and piano expertise to the festival again this year. Freedman, a bisexual activist who was mentioned as one of Out Magazine’s up and coming performers to watch this year, recently toured in Australia for the Gay Games and played at the Sydney Opera House. His latest CD, Some Company, has already received positive reviews internationally.

Lauren DeRose, who recently released the acoustic demo Little Red Jacket, is well known on the San Diego music scene for her aggressive guitar style and emotionally charged lyrics, and is considered by many to be San Diego’s hottest up-and-coming lesbian singer/songwriter. DeRose and Freedman have performed together at several local venues including Twiggs Coffee & Tea, and DeRose is a regular at the bi-monthly Thursday night spoken word series, Siren, at David’s Coffeehouse.

In addition to returning favorites Sue Palmer – the popular piano “Queen of Boogie-Woogie” – and award-winning activist rock band Danielle LoPresti and The Masses, guitarist-songwriter Mary Dolan, San Diego male jazz-pop vocal ensemble In aChord and the cheer squad San Diego Cheer will take to the stage for the second year in a row.

Sir Kippy Marks is an accomplished violinist whose original compositions are combined with acoustics and electronic rhythms. Marks performed with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra and the Billings Symphony Orchestra before turning his attention to the art of composition and improvisation; he draws from classical, jazz, blues and Middle-Eastern and Eastern-European traditions. Rounding out the bill is The Great American Yankee Freedom Band, a Los Angeles-based marching band formed in 1978 is an all-volunteer group dedicated to supporting the GLBT community through music and pride. The original marching band was founded to provide entertainment at Pride events and provide a positive image of GLBT people to the larger Southern California community, but has grown to include the Hollywood Wind Ensemble and a number of smaller ensembles. Notable gigs outside of Pride events include numerous Gay Games and the last two Democratic presidential inaugurations in Washington, D.C.

A drag tribute to the last three decades of Pride will take place at the Spirit of Stonewall Rally at the Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park on Friday, July 30.

Festival admission is $12 per day, or $20 for a two-day pass. Festival hours are from 12:00 noon to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 31,and 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 1. Tickets for k.d. lang at the Starlight Bowl are $46.50 for general admission or $100 for limited VIP seats in the first few rows. For more information, call the Pride office at (619) 297-7683.