Safetyfest

Folks in the Bay Area are in for a ten-day treat this month with the community focused Safetyfest, a "celebration of all the fierce ways queer and trans people in the Bay Area stay safe and strut our stuff." Beginning on April 8th, this cooperative effort will bring together anti-violence artists and activists from groups like Community United Against Violence (CUAV), Mangos With Chili, The Bikery, EL/LA, and the Self-Defense for Self Determination collective to provide innovative workshops and community building events focused on LGBTQ safety. Part fun and part fundraiser, all of the offerings at Safetyfest are either free or sliding scale, and no one will be turned away.

I spoke with festival planner and performer Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha about the inception of Safetyfest and why people should attend this groundbreaking event.