LGBT performers and artists of all stripes are once again answering the call and gathering for the annual Phreak ’N Queer Arts & Music Festival, through Aug. 4.
Now in its third year, the festival aims to get even more diverse in its mission to create safe spaces where local queer/trans talent can gather and perform.
For this year’s festival, organizers are exploring new directions, steering toward a more political bent, and will also host a more eclectic range of musicians. The festival has also expanded its literary offerings with a Queer Writers Reading, hosted by the Wooden Shoe and featuring readings by Alex Smith, Tim Trace Peterson and others.
“This year, it’s a lot of the same organizers for each night but different artists,” performance artist, writer and festival organizer Ruby LL Voyager said. “Last year, the opening show leaned more towards a burlesque show. This year, there are more noise artists and free jazz. The artists bring a lot of political edge and the organizers are facilitators.”
Voyager said the artists are given creative license over their pieces.
“We bring together different communities of Philadelphia for different nights and spaces for artists to showcase their beliefs,” Voyager said. “In a lot of ways, we know a lot of artists will perform but we don’t know exactly what the content of the festival will be. We don’t ask performers and artists to do specific things. We just have faith in the material we have seen for them to present a quality show.”
The Sunday-night closing party will take on a new theme this year. Last year’s event featured a country-styled closing with “The Gay Ol’ Opry,” while this year’s event will be titled “Grindhouse A Go-Go” with partners Dolph and DJ Robert Drake.
Fellow festival organizer and performer Messapotamia Lefae said the people who have seen previous editions of the festival are often inspired to throw their hats into the ring when it comes around again.
“We’ve gathered a lot of momentum,” Lefae said. “We’ve raised a lot of awareness about queer artists that work within a gender binary, like drag kings and drag queens that typically cater to shedding gender stereotypes. While it’s interesting for the audience at large, I feel like bringing queer performance artists and showcasing their talent and their decision to be gender- variant or gender-nonconforming is important. I’ve seen a lot more artists coming out doing their own thing and being very transgressive. It’s a good moment for queer artists in Philly. We’re actually moving away from drag and moving into a new queer world.”
Lefae said organizers reached out to local talent after last year’s festival and saw an influx in interested performers, especially spoken-word artists and trans-identified musical acts.
“They were encouraged by the other artists that we showcased in previous years,” Lefae said. “We lead by example. If you put forward an artist that would otherwise be considered underground or alternative, it becomes hot. That’s awesome. There are people that are leading by example and there are people that are inspired by them that have emerged in the last year. I’m in the position where I’m a contemporary dancer but I just land in the direction of drag queen. Outside of those things, I like to do random gender-variant contemporary dance and multimedia performances. So, if you appeal to an audience or a venue or a performance showcase, you can do you own thing and once you feel like you are comfortable doing your own thing, then people want that.”
This year’s festival will also feature more all-ages events.
“It’s hard enough for queers and freaks outside of bars,” Voyager said. “Bars still form a big part of spaces for LGBT folk. It’s a time when you’re very estranged. I’m 24; I’m not far away from all-ages. I remember how difficult it was to just find festivals to go to. I had to sneak into a number of festivals when I was under 21. It can also push the atmosphere away from alcohol, which changes how the audience takes in art and changes the very atmosphere. It changes the way that people receive art.”
Both Lefae and Voyager will be performing during the festival as well.
For Voyager, the festival will be the last for a while, as the artist plans to stop performing for the time being to focus on writing.
“I’m taking a hiatus,” Voyager said. “I’ve been performing throughout the city at various bars and venues. But I’m focusing more on my ’zine writing for Sissy Bitch after Aug. 1. It’s a ’zine that is geared for non-men, sissies, for people who fail at being men. It’s a collage of magazines, erotica, short stories, academic and critical analysis of gender and sexuality.”
Lefae will be on hand performing at the festival’s 21-and-over burlesque party with Miss Mary Wanna, Sebastian and Wurli & His Ragtag Vintage Orchestra. Lefae said this year’s late-night burlesque show should be more creative than in previous years.
“I’ll be performing at XO Lounge at ‘Phreak ’N Knnnky,” Lefae said. “We were going to go queer sci-fi, but now that we’re at a venue, which is similar to the Trocadero Balcony Bar, that has a burlesque vibe or an old vaudeville feel, we decided to go in that direction. Last year, we did a 1950s sock-hop theme and the year before we did a 1920s Prohibition theme. This year, it’s not limited to a decade. It’s more open-ended. We’re just making it open for the performers to do their own things, to be themselves and not try to fit a theme.”
The third annual Phreak ’N Queer festival runs through Aug. 4 at venues all over Philadelphia. For more information, a complete list of venues and performers and tickets, visit phreaknqueerfestival.wordpress.com/.