GRIMALKIN FEST
OCTOBER 12-13 (In-Person) & 19 (Virtual), 2024
Grimalkin Fest is a celebration of Queer Joy. It’s a stage, a catwalk, a costume party, a gathering space, and an idea that though the journey has not been easy, it has been authentic and we are stronger and more beautiful for it.
Basic City Beer Co. in Richmond, VA is hosting the in-person portion of our festival on October 12 and 13! They have vegetarian and gluten free options. Tiny Vegan Truck will also be available both days.
Donate here or here. More info coming soon!
MOBILIZING RESOURCES TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN
2024 Goal: $26,000
We need community support to make this festival a sustainable reality. We are mobilizing funds and resources to create space for us — Queer, BIPOC, Disabled artists — and give back to our communities in big ways. Let's go! Donate here or here.
These funds will be used directly to pay for performers, equipment, sound engineer/s, the photographer, DJs, lodging for out of town performers, and food. We are offering sponsorships to individuals and small businesses, as well as accepting donations. You can also view these sponsorships on docs here.
Grimalkin Fest is a manifestation of our mission and a celebration of Queer Joy and Resilience through a sharing of music, skills, resources and connections. It also supports, uplifts, and cultivates relationships with musicians, other creatives, community partners, and our communities. Last year, our festival’s budget was $12,600. Over $10,000 went directly to the performers and folks working at and planning the event.
We must raise $26,000 to expand this year’s festival budget. Achieving this goal will allow us to:
Compensate folks for travel
Provide food and snacks
Rent a house for out-of-town performers
Purchase decorations, supplies, posters, and locally silk-screened shirts
Rely on a video editor for the virtual live-streamed day
Compensate event planners
Hire a consultant to assist the volunteer coordinator
Rent Starlink equipment to live-stream events happening during the two in-person days
Increase compensation for performers and folks working at the fest
Last year, our budget didn’t allow us to compensate travel costs, provide full meals for performers, workers and volunteers, fairly compensate event planners, hire a consultant to assist volunteers, nor rent a Starlink to live stream the in-person days. A budget increase will.
We started the planning process in November 2023.
Our goal is to raise an additional $16,000 by early June. Doing so will allow us to assess our budget and then complete and finalize the planning for our festival, which will occur in October. We’re also looking for in-kind donations and volunteers leading up to and during the festival. Please apply here.
GRIMALKIN FEST 2023 SUCCESSES!
FUN AND CELEBRATION OF TRANSNESS & QUEERNESS!!!
Expanded our annual fest from 1 day to 3 days (2 in-person and 1 virtual)
Over 86% of our festival budget went directly to the artists performing and working the fest
Our budget for the fest ($12,602.10) was 3x larger than last year’s
32 artists performing & working the fest were paid in total: $10,900 (over 86% of our budget went directly to artists)
Expenses (Airbnb, groceries, decorations, flyers, shirts, misc): $1,702.10
First time having Volunteers and it was GREAT
Having a chill zone
Excellent Sound (Rei/Musiq Cultura RVA) & Photography (Randy J. Byrd)
Offering masks and having air purifier
Ample seating
Cryptic Party and vendors selling artwork, Tiny Vegan Food Truck.
Community partner engagement (Health Brigade, River City Redux, Dayum Jam, VAVP, Musiq Cultura RVA)
Silk Screen shirts for Gr Fest (Thanks Emily!)
Having games and crafts & a vision board
Thanks for Covering and Supporting Our 2023 Grimalkin Music Festival
Sponsors:
Fastidious Felines:
Tenacious Tabbies:
Cool CatS:
The first 2 days of the in-person part of our music festival was a huge success! Much love to The Commonwealth Times and Mckenzie Meleski and Maggie Root for covering it!
We very much appreciate Todd Raviotta and RVA Magazine for talking with Eli and Grim about our 2nd annual music festival. We appreciate the support in getting out the word about our music fest.
We appreciate Kevin Yeoh and the Sound of Life team for talking to Grim about Grimalkin and our Music Festival. We appreciate the coverage and festival ticket giveaway!