Dearest community,
Thank you! #FemFestNL 2.0 was an incredible three-day feminist festival in St. John’s in August 2017 that brought together hundreds of people across our city and province to celebrate feminist art, discussion, music, learning, and community. And we couldn’t have done it without you!
Through a collaboration of feminist organizations, students and activists, including the St. John’s Status of Women Council/Women’s Centre, Safe Harbour Outreach Project (SHOP) and others, we highlighted the experiences of all women, including trans*, two-spirited, intersex and cis, all folks who experience gendered oppression, including non-binary and gender non-conforming people, and all those who identify as women for the purpose of political organizing.
This year, we made a RACKET with St. John’s Womxn in Music and a force of local musicians and poets. We listened to the lived experiences of sex workers, Young feminists took space and shared their experiences with feminism, and we learned how pet ownership can heal. We discussed accountability, allyship, and activism while chronically ill/disabled. Skills were shared, whether that was how to write to your government officials, how to build a culture of consent on our campuses or how to engage with the media as a feminist activist.
The incredible warrior Beatrice Hunter blew us all away with her powerful and passionate keynote speech. We are eternally grateful for her.
We aimed to make this a low-barrier, accessible and safer space, which we couldn’t have done without InclusionNL. We discussed feminism across our generations, diverse lived experiences, and people came! Again and again over the three days, we heard how meaningful this feminist space was to our community. It was deeply meaningful to us.
Thank you to all of our incredible panelists and presenters, to the musicians and performers, to The Space for hosting us, and a very special thank you to our countless volunteers. Thank you for your time and your energy, for your compassion and patience, for sharing your stories and your vulnerability, and giving so much back into our community because it was worth it. You were magnificent, and FemFest NL would never have happened without your passion and generosity!
The Space was filled with laughter, conversation and tears, and we couldn’t have held that space without you. Thank you to our community, who attended, asked questions and engaged in FemFestNL. Without a community to bear witness to these conversations, FemFestNL would never have the impact it could beyond our own feminist communities.
As we continue to reshape, rethink and grow FemFestNL, we understand that we are constantly learning and understanding the community we engage with. We are never done learning, and we are committed to creating stronger, safer, more inclusive feminist spaces. We welcome dialogue around how we can improve and better support everyone in our feminist community. Please feel free to email us at:
nlfemfest@gmail.com or call the St. John’s Women’s Centre, one of the FemFest NL organizations involved in planning the festival at: (709) 753-0220, and let us know you have feedback around FemFest NL.
With the deepest gratitude,
The FemFest NL Committee
