ORLANDO, Fla. – A new arts festival is kicking off in Orlando to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community.
On Friday, Orlando Fringe will welcome the inaugural Orlando “Out Fest” to Fringe ArtSpace, which is located at 54 W. Church Street.
Organizers of the event said it’s designed to showcase LGBTQIA+ stories, artists and history.
“The ‘Out Fest’ is celebrating the LGBTQIA community,” Artistic Director Tempestt Halstead said. “Not to say that the community hasn’t had a relationship with Fringe for a very long time, but we felt it very important to give them their own space.”
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The “Out Fest” is the first big event held by Orlando Fringe since Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed funding over the summer for hundreds of arts groups. DeSantis cited fringe festivals as a reason for the budget cut.
“You have your tax dollars being given in grants in things like the fringe festival, which is like a sexual festival where they’re doing all this stuff and it’s like, how many of you think your tax dollars should go to fund that?” DeSantis said earlier this year.
Halstead said the governor’s remarks were a mischaracterization.
“Yes, we do have adult content, but that doesn’t mean we are inviting kids into the adult content,” she said. “We have content for everybody, all genres (and) all ages.”
In wake of the cuts, Halstead said Orlando Fringe has been working to find funding alternatives.
“Really reaching out to our community and our family that we’ve created and really being vulnerable and asking for that help,” she said. “We understand how important art is to this community and how important it is to have reasonably affordable stages for producers. I think we all thrive on that mission.”
The Orlando “Out Fest” begins with a sneak preview on Thursday and the festival will have seven shows from Friday until Sunday.
For details on the shows and how to purchase tickets, visit www.orlandofringe.org.
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