AN OPINIONATED GUIDE TO QUEER LONDON:
If it’s queer, it’s definitely here: culturally and historically, London is one of the premier cities in the world for LGBTQ+ life. With so much on offer, it can be hard to know where to go. This is where we come in.
Featuring 55 entries, offering everything from riotous club nights and funky cabaret to drag brunches, film festivals, and art and cultural tours exploring queer trailblazers, we’ve sorted the fierce and fresh from the tired and tame to ensure you experience only the cream of the London scene.
‘VFDalston caters to its mostly queer clientele with impeccable range. They host panel discussions, platform emerging LGBTQIA+ performers through talent showcases, comedy nights and open mics and party the night away with equal energy. They prove a venue can be more than just a dance; it can incorporate an entire community with ease.’ - MIXCLOUD
Kat talks to Georgia Mitchell from Fem Zine about queer club culture and 'femme resistance'. Get your copy of Fem II 'Night Life' here: femzinelondon.com
The zine also features Travis Alabanza, Liv Wynter and many more!
'There are a lot of LGBTQ people who want to integrate with heteronormative society, and a lot of us who really, really don't. There is a difference between acceptance and integration. There are people who don't fit into heteronormative ideas and don't want to
'Lyall Hakaraia, current owner and founder of the diverse Dalston night spot, VFD, remembers a similar atmosphere surrounding early 90s club night, Smashing: ‘We all worked, played and imagined together, from making clothes, to appearing in each other’s music videos, sharing houses… It was my first cultural family.” Lyall now brings a similar spirit into the basement space that VFD calls home: ‘When we first opened VFD, we only had curtains across the doors of the toilets and this meant that people had to talk to each other and hold the curtain closed for the next person. There were so many friendships and collaborations that started this way!’...
Time Out: 'A controversial council policy will see new Hackney venues face an 11pm curfew on weekdays. Kate Lloyd and Isabelle Aron ask three members of the nightlife community what it means for the future...
Karnage Kills' 'Timberlands' video was made as part of the VFD Femmetopia Festival residence program with support from Arts Council England.
Charlie Craggs' 'Nail Transphobia' video was made as part of the VFD Femmetopia Festival residence program with support from Arts Council England.
'Drag is the art of disruption. Behind the wigs, tape, make-up and costume lies a subversive core, one rooted in a desire to fuck with the mainstream misconception that gender can be neatly separated into two categories. Performers challenge this idea by mixing visual gendered codes, blending them throughout flawless, electrifying routines designed to highlight the fact that men aren’t inherently masculine, nor are women inherently feminine, and that there’s an entire realm of possibility outside of these boxes: “We’re all born naked, and the rest is drag.” ...
'Props where props are due - it seems VFD have made it their (trans)mission to eradicate transphobia from our consciousness once and forever. After the palaver of anti-trans demonstrators disrupting Pride this year, clearly their efforts are more needed than ever...
'Yes, yes and yaaas to this. You probably already know that VFD has pivoted towards focusing on femme-centred events, and recently they've had some really quality nights (including femme wrestling which, by the way, gave us so much life). Pushing the agenda and the limits of what a radical queer space can be...
'vFd Dalston is a queer performance space, that has a ten-year-old history of changing the world through partying. In addition to hosting nights like Femmetopia, vFd offers studio and rehearsal spaces for rent to champion creative talent. We sat down with the creative director Lyall and booking mistress Phoebe to talk about the radical possibilities of space and community...
Kat Spoke to i-D about our femme relaunch as one of 9 queer activists on powering up the community!
'We create our own utopias in our clubs, a version of reality in which we are no longer the marginalised group but dominant owners of our very own pocket of the world. This is why, when Phoebe Patey-Ferguson and I started working at Vogue Fabrics in Dalston, one of the first things we spoke about was creating a permanent venue led by femmes for femmes...
'Having played home to some of most playful, subversively creative and shining creatures of London’s LGBT scene, Vogue Fabrics Dalston has plans to rock the existing club landscape with a relaunch. January 2018 will see Vogue Fabrics reborn as vFd, an intentionally femme-centred nightlife space which will also host their first ever regular in-house night, Femmetopia...