ColorFest is a festival centered on Deaf people who identify with the LGBTQ community. It’s a place to connect, network, and learn. The first ColorFest took place at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in 2008. The next year, Gallaudet’s Rainbow Society as well as the Rainbow Alliance for the Deaf organized and hosted the festival. RIT and Gallaudet took turns hosting the festival in the following years. That was until the late 2010’s, when ColorFest stopped operating on a yearly basis. This year, Gallaudet’s Rainbow Society along with Multicultural Student Programs and SBG, reestablished ColorFest with three days of events, including workshops and drag performances.
On Friday, March 6, ColorFest was officially back. The first day included workshops on LGBTQ terminology, how to be an ally, a panel focused on BIPOC LGBTQ experiences, and transgender experiences. In addition, drag queen Anne Tifah hosted an event called “Drag Training 101” where she taught students about the process of applying drag makeup. That evening, there was a drag performance in Rathskellar. The following day began with a “ColorRun.” Similar to the Hindu festival Holi, students were covered with colored powders as part of the lively run. The day continued with more workshops focused on “Queer Sex & Safety,” drag artistry, queer joy, leadership, parents with LGBTQ children, and queer authors. The day ended with another drag performance entitled “Gala 2.0: The Modern Twist.” Finally, the festival concluded with a brunch at Union Market on Sunday, March 8.
As a writer for the Buff and Blue, I attended many, but not all, of the events listed above. I noticed that there were organizational challenges throughout, perhaps typical of an event that hadn’t been held for many years. Several times, presenters arrived late, which caused the festival to run consistently behind schedule. One guest panelist for the BIPOC Table Talk never arrived and one presenter for the terminology event also never showed. This seemed to leave other organizers and presenters in the lurch, unsure of when to “call it” and go ahead without all presenters present.
There was also low attendance for all ColorFest workshops, never reaching more than 10 audience members by my count. Again, this might be expected since current Gallaudet students were not familiar with ColorFest. It might be that in upcoming years, attendance will grow as students become more aware of the festival.
The ideas behind ColorFest are laudable. Queer Deaf students at Gallaudet deserve to have their voices heard, as well as to have the space to discuss issues important to their community. ColorFest did have multiple fun, memorable, and informative events and workshops. My hope is that ColorFest continues to be held at Gallaudet, and that it grows and evolves along the way.
If you’re interested in learning more about ColorFest, check out this link from GU:
ColorFest Creates Vibrant Space to Learn and Network | Gallaudet University
