She-Fest 2017: Celebrating the Women of San Diego

July features a cavalcade of events in the community. With all of the excitement in the greater county, some more local events may have passed some people by, such as "She-Fest 2017." Celebrating its 4th year in North Park Community Park on July 8th, She-Fest is closely affiliated with San Diego Pride. In addition to celebrating women, the non-profit organization also reaches out strongly to the LGBT community.

The North Park concrete path that normally appears barren was lined with colorful booths; businesses, charities, and non-profits owned by women reaching out to attendees. Cori-ography advertised its various dance courses. The She-Wolves called out to female cyclists. Janet F. Williams, author of the triple award winning You Don’t ASK, You Don’t Get was also in attendance. Her newest book Superior features a lesbian love-story set in a YA dystopia; keep a close eye out for the release date.

Another strong group among to She-Fest’s many booths were support groups and resource outlets. Community programs included the new LGBTQ Resource Center in Oceanside, The LGBT Community Center, and more far-reaching efforts like The Trevor Project aimed primarily at LGBT youth. An unexpected appearance was the booth run by the team of Congresswoman Susan A. Davis, whose support of LGBTQ rights is widely known. Apart from this were many other charitable and local businesses such as Voices for Children and other charities.

Despite only scratching the service of the nearly 50 different business along the walkway, booths were not the only things to see at She-Fest. Workshops from multiple sources involving emotional and physical care, LGBT laws, bike repair and even a raffle were all available to enjoy. All this accompanied by a stage of alternating musical acts from local bands like Resizters, Karina Frost, and the Banduvloons, and even American Idol Top 8 contestant Avalon Young closed off the afternoon.

A brief statement from arguably the hardest working woman at the event and founder of She-Fest Kelsey Kopf sums up the theme of this year’s She-Fest: unity. "The more bridges we have the stronger we are as a group," Kopf said. 

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