{"id":70096,"date":"2019-02-18T16:41:56","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T22:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=70096"},"modified":"2019-02-19T13:32:20","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T19:32:20","slug":"all-ages-all-walks-of-life-femme-fest-2019-oozes-inclusivity-and-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2019\/02\/18\/all-ages-all-walks-of-life-femme-fest-2019-oozes-inclusivity-and-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"All ages, all walks of life; Femme Fest 2019 oozes inclusivity and energy."},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cFemmes to the front\u201d read the sign on stage at Femme Fest, an all-ages event that celebrated femmes, gender non-binaries, women, and music. Saturday was the second Femme Fest at the White Schoolhouse. Organizer and creator Paige Batson wanted the event to be more than just a concert. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been really striving for a space that allows artists to feel safe and express themselves and in an all-ages environment, where anybody can feel welcome,\u201d Batson said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A drawing of Batson advertises free ear protection at the event.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Femme Fest attendee Jerynn Lindbloom said Femme Fest was unique as an all-age, queer event. Lindbloom said she liked to see kids at the event because the queer community is not exclusively adults. <\/span><\/p>\n

Batson said everyone involved in the event, from door to bar, was not a straight, cis male. Many of performers and vendors were women or gender non-binary which do not necessarily fall under the term \u201cfemme.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an LGBTQIA term to basically describe someone who performs femme,\u201d Batson said. \u201cIt is a term that is more queer oriented. When we\u2019re talking about the spectrum of identity, it\u2019s not like black and white.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The event had eight performers of various sounds: electronic, blues, folk, rock and a poetry reading by Mercedes Lucero. Vigil and Thieves performed their high energy set in the second half of the night. Band members Sarah Storm and Steph Castor said they have worked with Batson before at <\/span>Girls Rock Camp<\/span><\/a>, and are strong believers in creating safe spaces for expression.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Steph Castor shines during the Vigil and Thieves high-energy set.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCome support a young and vibrant music community in Lawrence,\u201d Castor said prior to the show. \u201cNot too many places exist like this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside it snowed, but the harmonies of artists like Heidi Lynne Gluck and Mourning Ritual along with Kawehi\u2019s energetic dance set kept the White Schoolhouse full of warmth. Between sets, many wandered upstairs where the bar sold LaCroix and cocktails next to local art booths and band merch.<\/span><\/p>\n

Batson told volunteers earlier in the day about the nonprofit, Lawrence All-ages Noise Destination, or LAND, created by her own Petri Productions and the White Schoolhouse. She said the goal is to create a sustainable nonprofit so that in 20 years, places like the White Schoolhouse still have all-age, inclusive shows.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Some fun and educational zines for sale upstairs at the event.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI hope that high schoolers continue to make music and feel like they can actually become the band that they want to be, and follow their dreams,\u201d Batson said. \u201cAnd you know, I hope that other communities feel this way too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Listen to the full interview with Paige Batson here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Listen to the full interview with Vigil and Thieves here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cFemmes to the front\u201d read the sign on stage at Femme Fest, an all-ages event that celebrated femmes, gender non-binaries, women, and music. Saturday was the second Femme Fest at the White Schoolhouse. Organizer and creator Paige Batson wanted the event to be more than just a concert. \u201cWe\u2019ve been really striving for a space that allows artists to feel safe and express themselves and in an all-ages environment, where anybody can feel welcome,\u201d Batson said.\u00a0 Femme Fest attendee Jerynn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":70100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3226,3225,15,48,1],"tags":[8287,8288,8289,8290,7760],"class_list":["post-70096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-articles","category-culture-events","category-featured-on-kjhk","category-local-music","category-uncategorized","tag-femme-fest","tag-mourning-ritual","tag-the-typing-pool","tag-the-white-schoolhouse","tag-vigil-and-thieves"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/DSC_0260.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}