First Sapphic St. Pete Festival Includes Comedy, Art Shows, Parties

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The first event geared toward the Tampa Bay area’s sapphic community kicked off Saturday night and will host a range of events across St. Petersburg through Nov. 9.

Sapphic St. Pete is the brainchild of local artist, event organizer and publisher Rachel Covello, who created the weeklong festival to fill a need in the LGBTQ community.

“I think we do pride events throughout the year — Winter Pride, St. Pete Pride and I love that there’s lots of little LGBT groups popping up and hosting events,” she told Patch. “But I really wanted an event that focused on the sapphic community; not just lesbians, but trans, nonbinary, pansexual, bisexual, all kinds of identities that connect with that feminine energy.”

Covello pointed to similarly themed and successful events in other Florida communities.

“Key West has WomenFest and [the Fort] Lauderdale [area] has Women’s Week,” she said. “And just living here [in St. Pete,] I know that our community, our area has probably the largest population of sapphic community members.”

While pride events often focus on parties and fun, Covello said she approached organizing Sapphic St. Pete differently. There are a handful of parties on the schedule for the week, but there are also other types of events — an art show, a movie night, coffee and crafts, speed dating, a Yappy Hour for dog lovers, a gathering centered on board games. (Find the full schedule here.)

“I think a lot of these big pride events, while fun, don’t allow a lot of space and time for connection,” she said. “They’re loud. There’s music. And they’re fun, but I, myself, am 45, and I don’t want to be in loud crowded places outside while it’s hot.”

Covello intentionally “created spaces indoors as well as outdoors in a cooler climate where there’s actually an opportunity to connect, like at an art show or speed dating with tacos.”

She hopes to build on Sapphic St. Pete in the coming years and grow it into an event that draws people from across the state.

“Hopefully, women come out so we can continue doing this year after year — well, not just women; unfortunately, there’s not a great label out there,” Covello said, adding, “Every event like this has to have a starting place. As we move forward, we might be like Key West and Lauderdale. We want to create an event people remember and where they make connections so they want to come back next year. We’re planting the seed for future growth.”

Some of the highlights of the festival include:

• Drawn to Flesh: A Sapphic Art Show, Sunday, 5 p.m., at Five Deuces Galleria. This art event features visual art, live tattooing, on-site body painting, and bold works by queer women and nonbinary artists — some showing their works for the first time.
• Sapphic Speed Gayting, Tuesday, 6 to 8 p.m., Ride’em Cowboy. A speed dating event with tacos.
• Burlesque at the Ball: Femmes & Follies, Wednesday, 9:30 to 11:30 p.m., at The Ball. Katie James will perform.
• LickHer & Laughs Comedy Show, Friday, 6:30 to 9 p.m., at Allendale United Methodist. Queer comedians on the lineup include Bear Webb, Te Davis and Georgia Dawkins.
• WePaddle Sapphic St. Pete, Saturday, 8:30 to 11 a.m., Coffee Pot Bayou. Kayaks and paddleboards available.
• Queer Picnic, Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Lassing Park. A laidback picnic geared towards queer families with kids.
• Your Body’s Electric: A Night for Queer(ish) Women, Saturday, 6:30 to 11 p.m., at The Body Electric Yoga Company.