A LGBT+ arts festival is coming to London, asking what it means to be queer in 2019
Wise Thoughts’ LGBT+ arts festival, GFEST (Wise Thoughts illustration by artist Wednesday)
LGBT+ arts festival, GFEST, is set to return for its 12th year this November with an opening night at the Museum of London.
Run by LGBT+ arts charity Wise Thoughts, the festival is a series of events across the capital asking what it means to be queer in 2019.
The festival, now in its 12th year, is taking on the theme of #QueerQueeries.
GFEST will launch at the Museum of London on 1 November and see a series of events take place across the capital including a queer tea dance, a creative writing workshop, and cabaret celebrating female icons in music.
Wise Thoughts’ LGBT+ arts festival, GFEST (Wise Thoughts illustration by artist Wednesday)
The festival launch at Museum of London will be hosted by Sadie Sinner, founder of The Cocoa Butter Club, and will include workshops by queer artists of colour as well as screenings of films by trans activist Jake Graf and trans collective My Genderation.
Filmmaker Fox Fisher told PinkNews: “GFEST is a long-running community festival, which was one of the first to screen our early My Genderation films.
“It helped us to have a platform and was incredibly affirming to know we were making festival standard films, having no formal training in filmmaking.
“Definitely check out this festival. We are screening a film from our #TransAND series about a trans woman who runs a rape crisis centre in Scotland.”
The festival also welcomes artists and event organisers to submit their own events for free to be part of the festival by signing up on their website.
Charity Wise Thoughts runs drop-in and outreach services for LGBT+ and BAME people in north London, where it is based.
Niranjan Kamatkar, artistic director of Wise Thoughts, told PinkNews: “Festivals like GFEST spread the word about the much-needed cultural and social equality for LGBTQI+ people.
Sadie Sinner founded The Cocoa Butter Club (PinkNews)
“This year’s GFEST is celebrating 12th year of LGBTQI+ equality presented in all art forms, in all walks of life.
“It’ll be an exciting month full of events, films, debates, performances, and dance evenings.
“Wise Thoughts addresses issues of BAME & LGBTQI+ community via arts and cultural intervention. We also offer dedicated LGBTQI+ community focused local services in Haringey where our base is for the last 20 years.
“Apart from local LGBTQI+ people, artists, practitioners, we work with statutory bodies and our work includes advising on BAME and LGBTQI+ policy matters.”
Book tickets to GFEST events here. You can donate or sign up to volunteer with Wise Thoughts here.
