The second Fed Up Festival took place in the heart of Bridgeport July 24-26, and continued the standard set from last years event by addressing queer, race, and trans issues in an upfront manner. There was a strong irony with this festival, as it was last year, in that it took place in a neighborhood with a long history of exclusion, ingrained racism and violence aimed at people of color.
Fed Up Fest is directly inspired by Fed Up Queers ( F.U.Q. ), a short-lived direct action coalition in New York City that sprang from ACT UP ( AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power ).
Although leaning heavily toward and aimed at punk-rock culture, Fed Up Fest has, in its short existence, made it a point to be far more then a party scene. There was plenty of music each night of the festival, but also workshops, discussion groups, tabling sessions by LGBTQ organizations and allies, and quiet rest periods which allowed the guests to socialize and take in the entirety of the event.
Among the many workshops offered were two discussion groups on racism from differing standpoints. The first was from the standpoint of queer and trans individuals of color ( "Deconstructing Anti-Blackness" ) while the other focused on dealing with ingrained racism from a punk awareness in general ( "Our Problem, Our Responsibility: Talking About Being White Queers in Punk" ). On July 26, there were workshops offered on body image ( "Gender Identity and Fatness" ) and mental health ( "Closing Stigma: A Dialogue on Mental Health and Survival" ).
The variety of music offered at this version of the festival was surprisingly different from what could be expected. There was Latin femme punk from Cabrona, aggressive dance-club art rock from Ze ( who closed out its set with a hard-edged version of "Sweet Dreams" by way of Marilyn Manson and Eurthymics ) and a riotous set by performance artist Forced into Femininity.
The event took place at the Co-Prosperity Sphere and at Benton House, 3052 S. Gratten Ave., with many guests, volunteers and performers coming in from as far away as Montreal, New York and California.
The festival also featured readings by zinester Dylan Kordani ( Arming the Stripper ), poet Lillith Padden, spoken-word artist and blogger Pidgeon and an unexpectedly joyous performance by Plus Sign, whose reading and unplugged singing turned into a group sing-a-long. Debbie Southorn read from letters from LGBTQ persons who are currently incarcerated and there was also a queer-punk art gallery space featuring work by Cristy C. Road, Chucha Marquez, Micah Bryant and Monica Trinidad.
The beneficiary of Fed Up Fest 2015 was Street Youth Rise Up Task Force and Campaign, which provides peer to peer outreach and counseling to homeless and street-based youth in Chicago, many of whom are queer, trans and/or people of color.
