Rounding Up An Endless Summer Of Festivals
Image: Harmony Knight
As we welcome in a new month, we’re taking a moment to celebrate the festivals we’ve experienced over an endless summer. The past few years have been heavy on our mental health - with loneliness being a factor that increasingly affects more and more of us. Yet, this year, the general craving for connection has been filled by the promise of live music, wellness experiences and a focus on safe spaces, with festivals offering timely opportunities to collectively escape the mundane towards nourishing inner and outer worlds.
Here at GIFTED, we’re taking a moment to shine a light on the festivals that have been aligned with UN Women UK’s initiative #SafeSpacesNow, a movement committed to making safer spaces for women and marginalised groups. From inclusive, female-led line ups to spaces that centre care and openly affirm queer identities, we round-up the summer festivals that brought us closer together.
Flesh Queer Festival
Image: Anna Smith
As we kicked off Pride Month this year, we enjoyed the UK’s first queer camping festival! As well as an impressive line-up of predominantly women, trans, and non-binary house and techno artists, Flesh Festival also hosted a programme of talks and workshops that promoted sex positivity and provided education on issues including active consent and unconscious bias.
In an age where festival line-ups are still dominated by male artists, with research showing that only one in ten headliners at the UK’s top music festivals this summer were women, Flesh Festival was a vibrant example of the queer community taking matters into their own hands.
Strawberries and Creem Festival
Image: Vicky Pasion
As an official partner of UN Women UK, Strawberries and Creem had a dedicated #SafeSpacesNow tent that offered a welcoming space to relax and connect with other festival goers. If you needed a moment away from the crowds, you could escape into a pampering haven and leave with sprinkles of glitter, a fresh mani and uplifting words of affirmation. The tent also featured original artwork by women and marginalised artists and an empowering portrait series by Cheer Up Luv. With a female-led line up, Strawberries and Creem was a refreshing festival that opened space for underrepresented talent to break through on a major platform.
Body Movements Festival
Image: Harmony Knight
This multi-venue dance festival in the heart of East London self-titles as a ‘space for queer bodies in electronic music’ - and it didn’t disappoint. Sub-communities came together, uncaring of what may have separated them, finding peace in conscious conversation and love. Food was shared, numbers exchanged, and lifelong relationships formed. With an endless array of queer voices, groups like the Misery Collective dedicated space for sober club nights centred on healing for queer, trans, non-binary and BPOC. In a mix of techno, drill, grime, and ambient vocals, Body Movements was a festival where queer bodies thrived.
We Out Here Festival
Image: Ana-Maria Molnar
In the midst of Cambridgeshire, We Out Here offered a live music range of soul, hip hop, house, afro, electronica, jazz and beyond. With live talks, a sustainable fashion market and wellness activities, it was undeniable that there were immersive experiences for all. Between swimming in the lake, yoga sessions and intimate performances, The Talks Tent was a hub overflowing with thought-provoking panels and spoken word performances. Our highlights were a panel with Selextorhood’s, a Birmingham-based female-led community for emerging and established DJs alike; and performances by Poetic Unity, a Brixton-based charity providing young people a platform to express their poetry. By sharing stories and uplifting voices of those who have otherwise been pushed to the side, we all undeniably left the site feeling renewed with soul-filled memories.
