Where will you be pitching your tent this festival season?
BY MAJ IKLE
So which camps and festivals look especially dyke-tasty this summer?
Where can we all go to lay down in the green grass or watch the fireball rise above it all from the hot embers of a communal fire pit? Lez find out…
Camping Out Devon
First on my list is Camping Out Devon (13-16 June 2019). Call me a middle-aged lesbian if you like, but guided walks, mask-making and an all-afternoon dog show give me a warm glow in my downstairs.
If all that sounds too safe though, the entertainment climax of a brand-new hysterical episode from the Pantaloon Party Players Of Cromford is guaranteed to give all of our gussets a glisten.
The Bales Ash campsite perched a-top a moor with vista views also boasts actual skylarks as well as several purpose-built tiny houses for those of us not up for the “in-tents life.” All this as well as hot showers and a hot meal café make it a place to forge new friendships – and rekindle old ones.
Queer Spirit
My slightly younger self, however, loves nothing more than a late-night dance followed by an early morning naked yoga session in a sex-positive space… doesn’t yours?
If your soft animal body loves being around often polyamorous, homemade personality perverts – as well as learning some life skills that might help save us and our planet – then Queer Spirit (13-18 August 2019) is your field of mental health.
Shriek it; “We’re here, we’re queer – and we’re cosmic!”
This year, these life-skill polishing sessions will include the gloriously down to earth Amanda Gaylove helping us come to terms with our most embarrassing sex noises, as well as assorted political, spiritual and sexual healing workshops.
There’s a 24/7 welfare area, should you need it, along with a dedicated all-women fire. At its heart, QS has a welcoming central fire where stories and rituals come alive along (with early evening dyke poetry from yours truly) and a chance to immerse yourself in planet-loving pleasures.
L Fest
L Fest 2019 (19-21 July 2019) is, of course, already sold out. Their Llandudno, Wales, site has proved extremely popular because of its proximity to the sea.
This three-day lezzer-fest is keeping quiet about this year’s acts but if the winner of last year’s best new act – the inimitable “Rebel Dyke” herself – is anything to go by, it is bound to be a bodelicious bonanza of banging bands and seriously funny acts. For all of you lucky lezzers who got it together to book early, stay safe – it’s a vajazzeled jumble out there.
Foyle Pride
A special mention too for Foyle Pride in Derry/Londonderry this summer.
Having suffered the loss of journalist Lyra McKee at the hands of the New IRA, we find ourselves tangled up in the political uncertainties of our time with deadly – and heartbreaking – consequences.
If you have the time, please join us and let this exquisitely mixed community of queers fly our flag of unity.
DIVA Music Festival
Oh, and while we have you – don’t forget to check out the line-up at this year’s DIVA Music Festival a little later in the year in October.
A little bird tells us DIVA favourite and blue-haired babe Shura is due to headline…
Only reading DIVA online? You’re missing out. For more news, reviews and commentary, check out the latest issue. It’s pretty badass, if we do say so ourselves.
