The Inaugural Year of the Fierce! International Queer Burlesque Festival

We’re Here! We’re Fierce! Get Used to It! – the Inaugural Year of the Fierce! International Queer Burlesque Festival

The first weekend of May 2013, Columbus, Ohio burlesque performer, Viva Valezz! will embark on a journey of epic, rainbow glitter-covered, proportions.  Valezz! and her cohort, Janine Aquino of Double Oh 7 Productions, will produce “Fierce! the First International Queer Burlesque Festival.”

The inaugural year of the festival will take place in the U.S., in the heart of Columbus, Ohio’s Short North, and a “teaser” of sorts internationally in the United Kingdom during the summer.  It will truly be a celebration of gay culture and the talents of burlesque performers who identify as “queer” worldwide.

Though it may have its focus on the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, also referred to as “queer”) community, the Fierce! Queer Burlesque Festival is intended to be celebrated by everyone – honoring the best of burlesque, highlighting the talents of queer performers and their allies -- all of those people who support them and want to celebrate them.  The Fierce! Queer Burlesque Festival will celebrate the talents of the burlesque performers of the world who identify as “queer,” gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, or intersex, and their queer allies.  The festival will be a celebration of the creativity, talent, and passion of queer performers and their community of fans, supporters and loved ones.

Fierce! the First International Queer Burlesque Festival will be held the first weekend of May 2013 in Columbus, Ohio.  The festivities will include four days and nights of parties and burlesque shows featuring performers from all over the world.  The U.S. leg of the festival will take place over the course of four days:

Thursday, May 2 “Fierce! Opening Night Warehouse Party” at the 400 West Rich Street artist warehouse, 8pm door / 9pm show, featuring live music, cocktails, and burlesque show featuring emcee, local Kaiser Colonic

Friday, May 3 “Fierce! All-Star Showcase” and vending exhibits at Axis Nightclub, 775 N. High Street / Short North, 8pm door / 9pm show featuring headliner, Tigger!, the “godfather of boylesque” from New York, NY, and hosted by Columbus super-drag queen Nina West

Saturday, May 4 burlesque classes by Fierce! instructors, Short North location to be announced, 10am-2pm Saturday, May 4 “Fierce! All-Star Showcase” and vending exhibits at Wall Street Nightclub, 144 N. Wall Street, 7pm door / 8pm show featuring 2011 Miss Exotic World, Indigo Blue from Seattle, WA, and hosted by Chicago's Tamale Sepp

Sunday, May 5 “Fierce! High Tea and Wine Tasting” at Camelot Cellars, 958 N. High Street / Short North, 12pm door / 1pm au revoir burlesque and variety show featuring emcee, local Kaiser Colonic Tickets for Fierce! will be sold for each event or as a weekend package. Ticket sales information will be announced soon. 

Sponsorship and exhibitor forms can be found at www.fiercequeerburlesque.com.  For additional questions about this groundbreaking event, contact Viva Valezz! at [email protected].

Viva Valezz! Burlesque Productions - Firey burlesque performer, producer, and instructor, Viva Valezz! has been turning on the children of the burlesque cornfields of Ohio since 2007.  Her credits include being voted 2010 “Columbus’ Favorite Burlesque Performer,” taking home a pair of “Golden Pasties” from the 2010 New York Burlesque Festival, and her dance troupe, the Velvet Hearts!, was the first and only burlesque troupe ever nominated as one of the “Best of Columbus” in the Best Dance Company category.  She has performed in large cities Chicago, Boston, New York, Detroit, in the New York Burlesque Festival and the Windy City Burlesque Festival, and of course everywhere in the Buckeye State.  She was a featured cast member in both the 2011 “Sin-Fully Yours Midwest Tour” and performed and produced in the “Fierce! Tour” in 2012.  She is the founder of the Columbus Burlesque Academy, teaching burlesque classes since 2008.  Viva!’s goal is to tantalize and evangelize across the country, spreading burlesque love and a trail of spicy glitter-dust all along the way.

Janine Aquino, of Double Oh 7 Productions, is an entrepreneurial whiz with expertise in business, problem solving, leadership, and making wine! Aquino owns Camelot Cellars Winery, an award winning urban boutique winery located in the Short North District of  Columbus, OH.

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