By AJ Trager
ANN ARBOR – The 20th Annual OUTFest comes to Braun Court in Ann Arbor's Kerrytown district this Saturday, Sept. 27 and will serve as a night of entertainment and joy for the Washtenaw LGBT community.
Over the past 20 years, Ann Arbor has been celebrating National Coming Out Day (Oct. 11) a few weeks early with OUTFest. The festival is a longstanding tradition of Braun Court and the largest, longest-running annual LGBT event in Washtenaw County. The event works with the goal of encouraging people, young and old, to come out as LGBT, ally, queer or questioning in a community that is supportive and accepting. Since its conception, the Jim Toy Community Center's OUTFest has worked closely with the leadership of /aut/Bar and its co-owners, Martin Contreras and Keith Orr, to create the anticipated evening each year.
Last year the festival had 600 attendees but this year is projected to be even bigger. The program is looser than in previous years and will not feature any key speakers, to try out a new system of more dance and less program.
"It's always a celebration, and secondarily it's a fundraiser. It's a chance to get together and celebrate the importance of being out and celebrating the victories that we have recently been experiencing, which would not have happened if people haven't come out in the past 20 years," Event Coordinator Terry McGinn said, "as well as looking at the beautiful things that have happened because people are coming out."
This weekend, hundreds of people will dance, eat, drink and meet new and old faces. The show will start at 6 p.m. with performances by Katie Geddes, an Ann Arbor traditional and contemporary country-folk singer and other local artists. Necto brings their high-energy dance party to Braun Court and kicks off a dance party at 9 p.m. that will include the 2nd Annual Drag Show.
"The key thing is the notion of here we are, we've had 20 years now of National Coming Out Day and finally we begin to see the fruits of the labor. We begin to see the benefits of people being out in regards to changes in law. And this year is about reaping the benefits of 20 years of being out," McGinn pressed.
OUTFest is free, but access to the Wolverine State Brewing beer pavilion will have an admission fee. Celebrations will be held Sept. 27 from 6 p.m. to midnight. Dress warmly.
