Hi there everyone! There are a lot of ladies' festivals out there, "womyn"-only events that center around Pride, or female musicians, or lesbian-themed films, or other lady-centered things. Most are in the late Spring-early Fall, when weather in the Northern Hemisphere is nice, and schools are out. I'm talking about events that are multiple days or a week, so that they involve staying overnight, and are women-only events - a very large percentage of the women in attendance being gay. We could also include lesbian cruises in this, because they are after all big multi-day parties of lesbians, if contained on a boat rather than in a city. I thought it would be nice if we list them here, and people could share experiences if they have ever been to any. A few I know of among the many in existence, include: Women's Week Provincetown, Oct 12-18 LFest UK, July 17-20 Ella Festival Spain, Sept 1-9 Dinah Shore in California, April 2015 Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, Aug 4-9 WomenFest Key West, Sept 10-13 Sappho Intl Women's Festival in Greece, Sept 5-19 I also found these two amazing links to women's music festivals: Festivals [Intl] Eight Female-Focused Music Festivals that Welcome All Women - AfterEllen [US] Please add any that you know of around the world that are not listed yet. I'm heading off to my first-ever festival in a few months, and have made my reservations. I've been to a large Pride before, but never to a festival trip, although I've tried to plan one for several years. I am figuring it will be a good chance to be surrounded by other bi and lesbian women, and I am hoping to finally gather up the courage to make a move and try to hit on somebody, and maybe get a little kissing action! I don't think I'll go so far as to try to sleep with anybody, but at least I can do a little flirting! It's hard where I live currently to find women I have anything in common with to date. Most are much older than me, and drink all the time. I saw a wealth of women at the Pride event I went to two years ago, but most were in groups of friends or already in a couple, so I didn't get to talk to anybody. I figure a long event will give me more time to get to know people, with multiple events that might be more conducive to talking than only a loud parade and a loud bar afterwards. I'm really looking forward to looking over at the cars around me and seeing women just like me, all driving to the same festival! So I'm super-excited, but also super-nervous! Has anyone else here been to one of these women's festivals? Is anyone planning to go this year? Please share your stories! I'll try to report back in here when I do go about what happened... if I'm lucky, maybe there will be a kiss, or a new friend, or even a budding romance to report!
Thanks for the links. I'll have to check those out. I am considering a similar trip, not necessarily festival related, but to a larger city at least. I am stuck in an extremely conservative, very small town and even the nearest city is not exactly a great place for meeting new people. Just the chance to be in an area where maybe I didn't feel so out of place would be great. I would be extremely nervous about meeting someone, cause to be honest I don't even know where to begin (I guess I could go the bar route, but I don't really drink that much so...) but I think the "adventure" of being in a new place might help me just go for it - whatever it is. Anyways, it was nice hearing that someone else is actually planning something similar! Keep us posted on how your trip goes! Good Luck!
Don't know if you're in the US, UK, etc., but if so, check out Meetup.com. Any decent sized city will have lesbian/bi-focused groups, and they hold events that can be really fun, making it easy to get to know people without being on a date or being in a lesbian bar (which I think is a pretty poor environment to meet good women, from what I've seen). Or you could consider going to an LGBT Center if the city near you has one - they tend to have support meetings, and events, and are also a good place to meet people and be friendly. These are good starts if you're not ready for a whole festival yet, and they are also great places to suggest a group trip to a festival, anyway! You will not be the only one at either place to be there for your first time, or have come from out of town to do it, or to be attending your first lesbian event. Both are in large part designed around newcomers. Let us know what you end up trying out, and how it goes!
