Levelling up an already heart-stopping festival is a challenge, but this year Body Movements, in our opinion, rose to the top of London’s queer festivals with its new leafy location offering more freedom to explore than ever before and, of course, endless inclusive LGBTQIA+ vibes.
Founded by queer events organiser Clayton Wright (Little Gay Brother / Feel It Events LTD) & industry-known DJ Saoirse Ryan the event has now taken its hot and steamy roots from Hackney Wick’s most intimate venues and expanded into its next legendary chapter. Moving the vibes to Southwark Park (ideal as it’s super close to Broke HQ in Bermondsey, so bonus points are immediately awarded there) Body Movements now has more space to showcase everything that’s sexy, fun, mischievous and inviting about the LGBTQIA+ dance community in a one-day event that left us wishing for a second, third, fourth and fifth (we basically want everyday life to be like this lmao).
Exploring this new queer fantasy playground brought elements of surprise like gallery installations of memories and snapshots on posters from the late-night gay spaces we know and love. Not only was the music on point but the 5 custom-built stages were meticulously named… ‘Glory Hole’, ‘Hot Mess’, ‘Mother’, ‘Snatch’ and ‘The Strap’ were a slay in themselves and my god they did live up to their names! Each lineup was matched to the aura of the stage name which took heightened the festival’s immersiveness.
The Mother main stage was tearing the house down boots with killer sets from Josh Caffé, a crowd favourite, who dropped some slick, sexy beats in his live show, while Cobrah brought the heat with a sassy, high-energy performance. Tash LC blew everyone away with her powerful vibes, and that was only the start. Not to mention the unstoppable mother-like vibes of LSDXOXO and Patrick Mason’s orgasmic drops (complemented by some serious diva dance moves) gracing the decks, jaw-dropping darling!
Over at The Strap, the industrial backdrop created an edgy playground filled with scaffolding-esque platforms where latex-adorned dancers dressed in bikinis and thigh-high boots boogied above party-goers on the ground with performers and punters alike unleashing their inner wild side. Bashhka and Fafi Abdel Nour cranked up the volume, but it was Body Movements’ founder, Saoirse, who stole the show. Her set had the crowd in a f*cked up frenzy, paired with a mind-blowing light display that took the energy to the next level.
One we took too heavily was ‘Hot Mess’ a snug pink-lit tent with plants decorating the decks and chaos unfolding inside with the crowd shedding shirts and sniffin’ poppers. By day we were sucked into tough-but-twinkly relentless beats of TEDESCO, Thempress and Harietta. When night fell, we found ourselves locked into a trance listening to Aurora Halal’s hypnotising tunes amongst an atmosphere of skin, sunnies and latex, love and release lingered in the air as festival goers let their hair down in a safe space with freedom built into its foundations.
Over at the Glory Hole stage, heavyweights like Fèmmme Fraîche boss Michelle Manetti tore it up with a wild set packed with Spice Girl edits. Grace Sands, Manuka Honey, FAFF, and more kept the energy sky-high, ensuring the party vibes lasted all day.
Tucked away among the trees, the intimate Snatch stage brought the vibes with killer sets from `Someone Sunny. The real showstopper was an epic back-to-back from longtime Body Movements favourites, Peach and Shanti Celeste, whose closing set perfectly capped off an unforgettable first edition at Southwark Park.
It’s safe to say something very special was in the air last Sunday with every mover and maker keeping the same mission in mind love, liberation and a whole lot of LGBTQIA+ culture, carving a space amongst the chaos of London to come together and as we have always done, find freedom on the dance floor.