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Southern Fried Queer Pride will hold first-ever Durham festival this week

Southern Fried Queer Pride
Southern Fried Queer Pride comes to Durham for the first time Thursday. Photo courtesy of Taylor Alxndr.

The Southern Fried Queer Pride festival comes to Durham for the first time Thursday, putting on a three-day event filled with art workshops, performances, skill shares and dance parties to celebrate Southern queer culture. 

Southern Fried Queer Pride (SFQP) is an Atlanta-based queer and trans arts and advocacy organization and festival that launched in 2014. Co-founder Taylor Alxndr wanted to create a space for local LGBTQ people to perform, entertain and educate within their Southern communities. 

This is the first time the SFQP festival will come from Atlanta to Durham, hoping to inspire queer and trans pride in North Carolina. 

“Every year we have a whole bunch of people come from North Carolina to Atlanta,” Alxndr said. “Durham is a really special place because there is so much political action already happening.”  

The festival will open with Heart Party, a self-love, trauma-free art workshop for creative queers at The Mothership workspace in Durham. The event will begin at 6 p.m. with a DIY zine and internet art workshop led by artists Shady K. and Darcy V., followed by an open art jam where dancing, snacking and free expression are encouraged. 

“My hope is that this event will allow people space to reflect on their own self-worth and own self-possibility and be with other people who are enjoying the same thoughts,” Shady K. said.  

The creative jam session will groove to Raleigh’s kindest DJ, Glen Koko, and include a visual art display from local Greensboro artist, Arbmat. Local clothing brand WitchBae will be at the event selling apparel and print designs. 

Founder of WitchBae, Imani Inami, said she is hopeful for the future of queer and trans pride. 

“A lot of pride events were run by people who are kind of older now,” Inami said. “This is the newer generation’s chance to show what pride means to us and what it looks like in a different context.” 

The festival will continue into Friday and Saturday with a host of other community-building events. 

On Friday, Hawt Sauce will be hosted at The Pinhook, featuring tunes from local artists Gemynii, Mamis & the Papis and Bitchcraft. SFQP would not be complete without a dance party. Doors open at 10 p.m. for ages 21 and over. Door cover is a suggested scale of $7 to $10. All door profit will go to paying the artists, performers and venues participating in the event. 

Dirty Work, a skill share workshop, will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. in the LGBTQ Center of Durham. All ages are encouraged to participate in needlework, letter writing and other DIY craft workshops. 

The festival will end with an unforgettable mix of drag, performance art and music at the BBQ: A Queer Variety Show & Queer Appalachia Meetup, featuring Haus of Coxx, ZenSoFly, Diaspoura, The Two Youths and Asia Conti. 

The SFQP advocacy organization and festival has inspired the conversation around queer and trans rights in the south, providing a space where members of the local LGBTQ community can unite, create, express, discuss, dance and perform. 

Alxndr said they hope this event inspires self-love, community connection and pride in North Carolina. 

“The goal is really to unite a lot of folks under being proud of being queer and trans and Southern," said Alxndr. 

@ameliayk

arts@dailytarheel.com

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