She Fest returns Saturday for largest event since split from San Diego Pride
The event at Pop-up Winona on El Cajon Boulevard will include workshops, entertainment and community vendors.
Written by Lauren J. Mapp, Edited by Kate Morrissey
She Fest is making a comeback after announcing its split from San Diego Pride earlier this year.
The volunteer-run, LGBTQ+ collective centering the experiences of women and gender diverse people is hosting its flagship event at Pop-up Winona at 4951 El Cajon Blvd. on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.
The day will include workshops on harm reduction, grief release, beginner-friendly salsa and one titled “Play With Your Queerness.” Entertainment — provided by Raspberry Management — will feature performances by Poor Thing, The Band Cope, Bishop Decker, Saint Misty, Daddy and Anna Ballew.
“This She Fest event is intended to be a place where people can feel safe and welcomed and where they can build networks and ties to other community members, strengthening community connections overall,” She Fest organizers said in an email.
There will also be a children’s clothing library where families can get free apparel up to size 5T. Several community groups and vendors will also participate in She Fest, including Queer Trans Nature Collective, San Diego Community Birth Center, Trans Chorus of San Diego, TransFamily Support Services, Sappho’s Jewelry and Palestine Pals of San Diego.
The event has largely been supported by community contributions, including collaboration with Pop-up Winona operator Tootie Thomas and Water and Kindness President Jessica Stephens. Thanks to donated space and materials, they said, the event budget is under $1,000.
This year’s She Fest follows a Pride season overshadowed by controversy in San Diego.
A few months before paradegoers were set to line the streets of Hillcrest, She Fest ended its decade-long partnership with San Diego Pride. The split followed Pride’s last-minute cancellation of a 2024 workshop on pinkwashing in Israel.
Pinkwashing refers to organizations trying to appeal to the LGBTQ+ community through sympathetic messaging without working to improve equality or inclusion efforts. The term was coined in the Bay Area by Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism in 2010 as a response to Israel promoting itself as a haven for the LGBTQ+ community within the Middle East.
Through the workshop, organizers with People for Palestine San Diego and Jewish Voice for Peace San Diego planned to educate attendees on identifying pinkwashing efforts from governments, businesses and other organizations.
Several Jewish groups withdrew from this year’s Pride festival in response to the announcement of Kehlani — a nonbinary R&B artist and vocal supporter of Palestinian sovereignty — as a headliner. Some of those groups instead attended the J Pride Festival, an alternative event at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in La Jolla.
Citing safety concerns and what they called a lack of support from San Diego Pride, the Pride Military Department announced it too would skip the festival, ending more than 10 years of leading the parade.
“In an average year, we would be wishing you “Happy Pride.” This pride season, however, our community has been met with deep challenges,” San Diego Pride said on its website. “While we face external threats to our community’s liberty nationwide, we have also received local concerns around safety and visibility.”
Local issues paired with recent actions under the Trump administration limiting rights to LGBTQ+ communities shaped the way several people felt about participating in Pride this year.
“It has felt really different for me and my community. I think it gave a lot of uneasiness of whether or not people wanted to attend Pride,” Lucy Plascencia said while waiting to walk in the parade in July. She identifies as bisexual and genderqueer, and marched in the parade as part of Southwestern College, where she works as a counselor.
While this year’s She Fest won’t have a pinkwashing workshop, She Fest said, “Our collective remains committed to supporting freedom and self-determination for the people of Palestine.”
Organizers said She Fest will be a smaller scale than in the past, and “heavily focused on uplifting our community members,” including through mutual aid and education. The collective said it is committed to making sure every LGTBQ+ woman, trans, nonbinary person and ally feels welcome at their events, and that it does not accept trans-exclutionary rhetoric.
“We must take care of each other, and She Fest is a starting point, where people can meet, mingle, and – hopefully – stay in touch to support and uplift each other in the future,” She Fest said.
