Look, I won’t lie to you, I’m not a huge fan of camping. It may be the childhood memories of camping in a muddy field I’ve tried to store away, but I came across something that has the potential of changing my mind. 

Queer Campfire is a space for bisexuals. lesbians, non-binary, trans, and basically all LGBTQ+ people to pitch up a tent and camp until their hearts are content. 

We had a chat with owners Jazz and Elle, to learn more about their camping venture.

How did Queer Campfire start?

So we’re a lesbian couple, Jazz & Elle, and during 2021 Pride Month we realised we were missing a huge part of our life – a queer community.

We live in a pretty straight town in the Midlands and just felt like we couldn’t be the only lonely lesbians desperately seeking our people. Couple that with our love of camping and campervans (Elle converts campervans for a living), and it felt like there was only one obvious answer to solve our queer loneliness – set up our own queer camping events!?

So, The Queer Campfire was born. The Summer was coming to an end, but we were so adamant that we wanted to squeeze in a 2021 launch event – so within a few weeks of launching, we’d organised a very gay take-over of a local campsite… incredibly, over 50 lesbian, bisexual, non-binary, trans and queer folks descended on a random field in the middle of the UK. 

For those who may just think camping is, camping. Why are these spaces so important?

As queer folks, we walk through life very differently from our straight counterparts. Whether it’s toning down public displays of affection and avoiding holding hands in public, to anxiously anticipating whether there are non-gendered toilets at a venue.
 
For many, there’s a constant hum of consciousness that tells us to stay alert, adapt behaviors, and make ourselves smaller. That’s our normal.
 
It’s only when you’re surrounded by other queer people, that you start to realise what living at 100% authenticity feels like! Knowing that everyone in that field is not only queer themselves, but is also explicitly looking for like-minded pals is… so energizing! Suddenly the ‘norm’ is queerness; discussing coming-out stories is as normal as discussing the weather, and showing affection in your queer relationship is suddenly not only safe but celebrated. 
 
A super important aspect of The Queer Campfire spaces is that we aim to get exclusive access to campsites and venues – we do a whole site takeover to make sure facilities are completely non-gendered for our non-binary, gender non-conforming and trans campers – the space is queer-only!
 
Getting people under the starry sky around a campfire creates a really special neutral setting – everyone’s pitched up as equals and it’s quite literally everyone’s turf. 

How did your first campfire go?

Ahhhh it was everything! We welcomed solo campers, and groups. Tents and campervans. Introverts and extroverts! We welcomed lesbian couples looking for mates. We met bisexual babes on a weekend away from their boyfriends, finding their gay gang.
 
We pitched up alongside non-binary, trans, and gender-non-conforming folks finding their people. Everyone brought themselves (and their dogs!) to that field. 
 
We organised some ice breakers on the first evening, including a pub quiz around the campfire, to help folks mingle! It’s a scary thing pitching up to a field full of strangers, so we want to make sure we have things on-hand to take the nerves away.
 
It wouldn’t be a queer gathering without some avid lesbian hikers, so there were organised canal-side walks and less-organised treks to find the closest hot coffee! Obviously, at some point, there was a very gay football game too. Every evening culminated in a circle of queers around a roaring campfire, honestly, heaven. 
 

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