LGBTQ Student Group to Hold Inaugural Pride Music Festival Lavanda, founded by student Emma Whitney, will host Camp Fest, an outdoor music festival and community event this Friday, June 28, at the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common.
By
Daniel Pesquera
June 26, 2024
Emma Whitney started Lavanda as a class project and is now hoping the student-run group can expand to other cities across the country.
Image courtesy of the artist
It was summer 2023 when Emma Whitney and her drag band, the Funcles, found themselves struggling to process several negative experiences while performing at venues across Boston. Many of these venues claimed to be safe spaces for members of the LGBTQ community, yet Emma and her bandmates felt that a focus on substances and alcohol was inhibiting their ability to feel comfortable and fully express themselves as musicians.
As a ninth-semester student majoring in professional music with a double minor in songwriting and music business, Whitney took matters into her own hands with an idea that started as a business proposal for a class. That project eventually became Lavanda, a student group focused on providing alcohol- and substance-free social and performance spaces for artists and music lovers of the LGBTQ community. Whitney recruited fellow students Grace Harkey, Isha Kinare, Kris McCarthy, Colleen Rhatigan, Shea Dewan, and Hannah Crouse (as well as Tufts student Stacey Brie) to get her vision off the ground, and this past March, Lavanda hosted its first DIY-style event, receiving an overwhelmingly positive response.
This Friday, June 28, Lavanda will punctuate the end of Pride Month by hosting the first-ever Camp Fest, an outdoor music festival and community celebration of camp, queerness, and music, taking place from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Parkman Bandstand on the Boston Common. The event will highlight a range of artists, including K hlname, S and R, chrysalis, Christian Inman, and Lauren Jean, with vendors offering jewelry, pottery, craft kits, merchandise, and more. We spoke with Whitney ahead of Camp Fest to learn more about Lavanda and what festival attendees can expect to experience.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How did Lavanda get started?This past fall, I was taking The Artist Entrepreneur with Cristi Catt. The project for the class was to create a business plan. Cristi was encouraging us to do something realistic, something that we actually wanted to do so we would be motivated throughout. I have been working in live music for about three years as a supervisor for the box office and an event coordinator at the Red Room. I'm also in a drag band called the Funcles. Our band had a couple of negative experiences while performing last summer that really impacted me and made me rethink queer spaces in DIY music. It's really necessary for us to have sober spaces because so many queer spaces that exist are focused on alcohol and substances. While I think there is a place for that, I think there is room for people who choose not to drink to have a community, especially for queer people. I ended up developing Lavanda in that class, and after it finished, Cristi encouraged me to go for it. I ended up reaching out to a couple of friends and we decided to start with a small DIY event in March to see how it went.
What kind of response did you get at that initial event?We got a much better response than we anticipated. We capped the event at 50 people, because it was held in an apartment and it was a donation-based show. We ended up having to turn people away at the door because there were so many people showing up. We did not expect that at all. We had a really great response from the artists and the vendor as well; I think they really enjoyed it. One of the things we do at our events is make custom coloring pages that are themed to the event with pages of the artists as well. People can color while they're at the show. It's fun and a unique idea, and in a space that is not providing alcohol, if you provide an activity you can do with your hands, it can bring down the walls and lead to people connecting with each other. It created a sense of care and a community aspect to the performance.
What can performers and attendees look forward to at Camp Fest and how is it different from a typical outdoor concert event or festival?We will have a lineup of amazingly talented artists, as well as several vendors offering merch and interactive items like craft kits. I think what makes this different from a regular music festival is not only the element of the crafting and the interactive activities but also the dedicated focus on this being a community event. We are celebrating the arts, things that are campy, queerness. It is not just to focus on queer people or the arts, but both together-it is about celebrating our specific community. The hope is that it is a social event, and that people are there to make friends in addition to enjoying great music.
We tend to hear the term safe space referenced frequently in the current culture. In the context of the queer community, what does it mean to have a safe space for artists?We as a team have spent a lot of time identifying what this means to us. What we landed on is that it is inclusive and intersectional. We want to make sure we are not only representing queer people but our community as a whole. It is a range of people and we want to celebrate diversity. For our artists, we want to develop a space where they are safe enough for them to come to us if something happens that makes them feel uncomfortable. We also want them to feel that they can express themselves freely. We try to let audience members know exactly what the experience is intended to be to ensure that they are coming because they want to be there. We have security at our larger events to make sure ever
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Liberty University on why broadcast technology isn't just a technical invest...
08/05/2026
COW Jobs: UGC, On-Camera Video Content
Brie Clayton May 7, 2026
0 Comments
UGC, On-Camera Video Content
April 17, 2026Documentary Editor - US,......
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...
LGBTQ Student Group to Hold Inaugural Pride Music Festival Lavanda, founded by student Emma Whitney, will host Camp Fest, an outdoor music festival and community event this Friday, June 28, at the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common.
