The festival is back despite backlash and will be even better than before
Australian queer festival Gaytimes debuted last year as a space for the LGBTI community but received backlash by straight individuals who mentioned that the idea of a gay festival is ridiculous and that a festival held for straight people would have caused an uproar.
Festival Director Anna Whitelaw stated that they were not trying to exclude anybody but rather create a space for the community to be open without any qualms. “Gaytimes is a really inclusive space where people from all colours of the rainbow can come away for a weekend getaway together. For many of us, these spaces are the first places we go to when we’re still closeted or we’re coming out, and on a dance floor might be the first time you find yourself surrounded by other people like you, or find yourself kissing someone in public. Some of my closest friends like going to men’s only bear parties or sex on premises venues that I can’t get into, and there’s a place for that.”
(Credits: instagram/Katie Dutton)
The festival gained a ton of support and had an incredible number of people attend the debut and have much more planned for this follow-up. There will be more artists for the musical line-up over two stages, art installations, performers, light projections, a cinema, workshops, yoga classes, speed dating and so on. They have announced artists like Ngaiire, DJ JD Samson, Sydney musician Brendan Maclean, Myami, The Posse, Teeth & Tongue and Jess McAvoy, but many more will be revealed soon.
The festival will be taking place from the 17th to the 19th of February at the Lake Alpine Resort in Victoria overlooking the beautiful mountain range with more accessibility for the attendees. Additional changes include more camping areas, more activities and gender neutral toilets.
Isn’t it great to see people progressing so much over the globe?