Chill Vibes at 'Ultra Violet'

I bumped into an old acquaintance at the Mardi Gras Festival's premier party for queer women (Ultra Violet), which opened up opportunities for socialising and group dancing. The afternoon had started out uneventfully - there was good music coming from the stages, but hardly anyone dancing along. I retreated to a pink beanbag nestled in the grass to wait for things to start happening. And indeed they did - an hour later (at 5pm) people started arriving a-proper, and the musicians were being met with the appreciation they deserved. 

The reason I knew Camz was that we attended a workshop on Healthy Relationships together. Run by ACON (a queer health organisation), our group pondered the ins and outs of functional human dynamics, learning from each other's experiences. Our little group developed an affinity for each other, and that translated into a facebook friendship with Camz, and a warm greeting at Ultra Violet. 

Camz had been busy since the early morning, setting up the National Art School so that it was ready to host hundreds of us queer women (and their allies). The grounds were decorated with sculpture installations (a glittery pink unicorn here, a walk-in vulva there), and the four stages were decked out in gorgeous graphics. I felt a sense of gratitude towards Camz for sacrificing her sleep in order to prepare the place. She had met some other nice volunteers that morning, and now that they were free to enjoy the event, they instinctively sought each other out throughout the evening. 

We started out at the 'Ultra' stage, drifted around the other three sources of music, and took photos with the sculptures. There wasn't much time for conversation, but I introduced myself to an engineer from Peru and a cis man from Dubai, the latter turning out to have some great dance moves. We decided that DJ Eddie was the best choice to dance to back at the Ultra stage, and shook our bodies to energised remixes of hits like 'What U Waiting For?' by Gwen Stefani. The others were drinking from the two bars available, but I was happy to stick to water. 

There was something about being around other queer people in a place designed especially for us that was soothing in a deep way. I observed the lesbian and bisexual women feel increasingly bold in their enjoyment of the music, and each other. 

There was a trans woman dressed up like Chappell Roan, a cis woman with a shaved head, various flavours of non-binary, and all the femmes you could possibly imagine. Older and younger generations mingled on the dancefloors, many with glitter in their hair or elsewhere on their attire. 

Camz herself was sporting a wonderful earpiece that she got online, the silver star patterns contrasting with her light brown skin. She said that her search for work in Australia was leading her to move to Newcastle, which is a shame because I will miss her. I guess we all gotta do what we gotta do. 

I departed from Ultra Violet at about 8pm, around the time a rock band with a S'n'M style was starting to amass an audience. I wasn't feeling the vibe so I extricated myself from the crowd, and loitered around the entrance, where the second half of Lady Gaga's 'Abracadabra' was audible. I had indulged in sufficient feel-good vibes during the 4.5 hours I'd spent there, and I felt it was a good note on which to leave.