BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGES BY LYNN SEYMOUR

Out & Wild, the UK’s biggest festival for LGBTQIA women and non-binary people, is back for its third year in 2024. Taking place in Pembrokeshire, Wales between 31 May – 2 June, Out & Wild offers queer women and non-binary people a safe space to meet like-minded others as well as enjoy a whole host of activities. This year’s festival will see everything from comedy and DJ sets to wellness workshops and hikes.

This year’s Out & Wild is expected to attract nearly 1,000 attendees, making it a haven for LGBTQIA women and non-binary people. Notable highlights of the weekend include the opportunity to see acts like The Anchoress whose album The Art Of Losing was rated as one of the albums of the year by the Sunday Times. Award-winning poet and playwright Joelle Taylor will also be making an appearance at the highly anticipated event.

Partnering with the legendary Bluetits movement, this year’s Out & Wild will give attendees the chance to enjoy some wild swimming and paddleboarding. If you fancy taking in some of the beautiful local scenery, hikes and bike rides will also be available to partake in.

Polly Shute, Co-founder of Out & Wild Festival and Events, said: “We created Out & Wild to be a festival that connects the community through shared experiences. Our audience told us they wanted a space to meet like-minded others and focus on their overall wellbeing.”

Spaces like Out & Wild are more vital than ever to help bring together our community. Out & Wild has found that only 21% of LGBTQIA women attend queer-focused events at least once a month. When asked why most didn’t attend more events, 45% claimed that not enough of these events are aimed at women. A further 4 in 10 said that most LGBTQIA events are male-dominated.

Wellness Lead for Out & Wild, Ruth Harlow, said: “For me, it’s a dream come true to be part of creating a phenomenal wellness festival, entirely for the female LGBTQ+ and non-binary community. As a lesbian in the wellness/spiritual world for more than 12 years, I experienced a lot of harm from the entrenched heteronormativity and sometimes outright homophobia and I know I am not alone in that.”

“A fundamental part of wellbeing is belonging and feeling welcome, and as Queer women and non-binary folks, we have usually experienced a lot of the opposite of that. There is something so deeply healing about coming together, in spaces where all of us are welcome, where we can really be ourselves in all of our dimensions, and be celebrated for who we are. So many people used the words life-changing to describe the festival and that is certainly true for me. Whether your thing is football or chanting, surfing or spoken word, hiking or meditating, tango or softball, there is something for everyone and so much to discover.”

Almost a third of all Out & Wild attendees come solo but leave with experiences and friends for life. Out & Wild run events throughout the year including mini-weekends, regional meet ups and, the Pride Swim series. You can find out more here: www.outandwild.co.uk 

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Full article Out & Wild is back and bigger than ever - (diva-magazine.com) 

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