On Oct. 5, 2024, Big Gay Hudson Valley hosted the 12th annual “Out on the Farm” all-ages queer festival. Hosted at Bad Seed Hard Cider tap room, the event is family and pet-friendly, including fall centric activities such as apple picking, hayrides, storytime, crafts and a cabaret show. Previously held at Sprout Creek Farm, the festival has evolved to include more food and drinks as well as shaping the event to have more entertainment of all types for all ages in the family-friendly, diverse space.
This event caters to diverse family structures and aims to create a space for the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ community and allies to enjoy the fall season and foster a more close-knit, inclusive environment.
Big Gay Hudson Valley was co-founded by Stephan Hengst and Patrick Decker. Both work within the organization to keep their community “connected to the wide variety of gay-owned, -friendly, and -sensible businesses, events, resources and happenings in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley.”
“In order to keep our community connected, we think local first whenever possible,” the organization’s mission statement reads. Big Gay Hudson Valley strives to showcase fresh, original items of interest and give the spotlight to the efforts of local, grassroots organizations that make the region “so colorful.” This includes unique performances and entertainment based events with queer performers and artists, as well as festivals.
Decker spoke on the importance of the event and how in its 12th year, more entertainment and performances of varying natures were included for the festival’s diverse crowd. “As part of our organization Big Gay Hudson Valley, we really try to create space for people to live their most authentic LGBTQ+ lives, or if you’re an ally of the community, to come out and support your community. And we recognize that comes with a lot of different permutations of what family is.”
Thus, the event was structured around the many ideas of family – queer individuals, queer parents of children, parents of queer children, allies and more – with the intention of creating spaces for all. With an event from 4 – 10 p.m., there is more flexibility in the range of hosted activities for attendees.
“It gives us a nice swath where we can provide family-friendly stuff at the beginning of the evening and then transition into things that might be more adult-focused at the end of the night. So, you get the middle-aged adults who want to come out and have some drinks and maybe see a little cabaret show or dance a little bit. It provides a little bit of something for everybody.”
Activities and entertainment varied at the event. With a range of family-centered services early in the night to performances later in the event for more mature audiences, Out on the Farm had opportunities for all to participate.
Two Hudson Valley-based organizations provided activities in conjunction with Big Gay Hudson Valley – the Dutchess County Pride Center and the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center – in the overarching theme of creating community spaces for all with a wide range of services.
The Dutchess Pride Center provided kids crafting activities. This worked to fold creativity and art into the event, providing a designated space for children. There were coloring materials and masks for children to decorate.
The Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center sponsored “Drag Story Hour” with Katarina Mirage. The story hour included Mirage reading children’s stories at 4:30 p.m. to children and their families.
This reflects the center’s effort to provide community-based services and events to all, reaching out to children and providing safe, educational spaces for queer families of all types. These services include programs for the community, providing meeting spaces and special events.
Richard Heyl de Ortiz, Executive Director of the community center, emphasized the importance of programs such as the Queer Farm Festival. “Events like this are great because they bring people together,” Heyl de Ortiz stated. “They create a sense of community and they allow individuals to meet one another. It’s very similar to the community center: it’s a place of connection and an opportunity for people not to feel that they are the only one or feel alone, but to find other people who have common interests or to learn about a different part of our community they didn’t even know about.”
Music was first provided at the beginning of the night by The High Nooners, an Americana-Folk band based in the Hudson Valley. Following their performance, DJ Go Go Gadget played from 6 – 10 p.m. for people of all ages to listen, dance and sing along in the Orchard Disco.
The sun went down in time for entertainment from performers ranging from burlesque to circus acts. The “extra special farm-fresh cabaret featuring some of NYC + the Hudson Valley’s ripest fruits” took place at 8 p.m.
“Bushels & Pecs Farm-Fresh Cabaret” took place right in the middle of the DJ set, with Out on the Farm debut performances from Burlesque performers Chestnut Belafonte and Lady Slipper. Fire breathing was performed by Charley Bisquit and clowning was done by performer Glow Job, featuring a diverse display of queer performers and performances for the last part of the night.
“What I personally love about this event is it’s kids and it’s dogs, and it’s male and it’s female, and it’s not binary, and it’s all ages, and it creates a space for all of us to come and just enjoy what we love the most about living in the Hudson Valley,” Decker explained. “It’s fall and it’s beautiful, so let’s all come out and enjoy that together.”