Cork Women's (Fun) Weekend marks 40th anniversary

Source: Echo Live

THE Cork Women's (Fun) Weekend taking place from May 3 to 5 is one of the key events in the Irish lesbian calendar.

Now in its 40th year, it is now generally referred to as the Cork Women's Weekend (CWW), but the fun element is still to the fore.

It attracts women not just from Cork but from all over Ireland and abroad. This social weekend includes music, dancing, workshops, a barbecue and a pub quiz.

This year, there will also be an exhibition recalling previous CWWs, put together by Orla Egan from the Cork LGBT archive.

The inaugural CWW in 1984 was organised by the Women's Place at the Quay Co-Op. One of the organisers, Helen Slattery, says: "There were a lot of heavy-duty political women's conferences and discussions going on at the time and, as an antidote, we decided to have a weekend of just fun."

It was an era of contentious issues such as the availability of contraception, abortion, and divorce.

Joan McCarthy was also involved in organising the first Cork Women's Fun Weekend. She says it happened "in the middle of a severe economic recession just a year after the defeat of the anti-amendment campaign and the insertion of the 1983 amendment to the Constitution.

We wanted to focus on activities that celebrated women and were about music, joy, sport and craic. We invented a pub quiz that focused on women's achievements in literature, film and sport as opposed to the usual pub quizzes at the time that hardly referred to women at all.

Chairperson of the organising committee of CWW, Andrea Coleman, from Togher, says the bar venue hosting the opening social evening on Friday will be supplied by the organisers, with free soft drinks for women that are designated drivers as well as for women that don't drink alcohol. The bar is An Sibín in Cork city.

There will be speed dating and a drag king competition where the women will wear make-up and maybe men's suits. Voting costs money and whoever gets the most votes wins, with the money going towards next year's CWW.

On Saturday, there will be workshops and a barbecue at LINC (Lesbians in Cork). That night at Hamish's Bar in UCC, there will be music from Stephanie Rainey who is the headline act. There will also be a band called Witless and a DJ.

On Sunday, the doors will open at 3pm at the Spailpín Fánach - who are supporters of CWW .

"There will be the annual table quiz. LINC drama group will put on a performance. We will have an act called Misneach from the Kabin Studios and also Stacey K, a singer/songwriter.

"There will be karaoke with Prima Donna as well as a raffle for spot prizes with proceeds going towards next year's weekend.

"Every event, apart from Saturday night, is free. On Saturday night, tickets cost €25 and there will be a memento gift given on entry to honour the 40 years."

Andrea says that, typically, on the Saturday night, about 200 revellers attend, aged over 18. They identify as lesbian, bisexual, trans and non-binary.

The events over the weekend are safe spaces where people can be affectionate towards each other, socialise, and present themselves as they wish. They don't have to worry about what to wear.

With marriage equality, abortion and divorce now available in this country, what issues are under the spotlight at the CWW?

"A lot of women in the community would have children and some would have been married. They are now in a new walk of life. People have made every sort of journey. I'm going through a divorce at the moment and have two children, a son aged 17 and a 12-year-old daughter. The majority of people are open-minded but some can't get their head around the fact that a woman might leave a man to be with a woman. But for the majority, it's live and let live. You should be able to love who you want.

There is still homophobia around, even if it's understated. You can see it on social media and you still wouldn't show affection if you were in a straight bar. You'd have to be very careful.

Andrea says the gay community in Cork is very grateful for the recent opening of Vibe, a gay nightclub in the city. It is owned by Jen Bowler and welcomes LGBTQIA+ people.

"We'll have our after party at Vibe on the Sunday night."

The exhibition takes place at Hamish's Bar on the Saturday night. It includes posters, leaflets, photographs, newspaper reports, badges and T-shirts from the 1980s to the 2020s.

Orla Egan says it is "part of the Cork LGBT Archive's work of 'Animating the Archive', bringing Cork's queer history to life, making it more engaging and accessible for people. This includes publications, exhibitions, walking tours and documentaries.

"Last year, we produced a documentary, Loafers, marking 40 years since the opening in Cork in 1983 of Ireland's longest running gay bar.

"Our exhibitions have been displayed in numerous venues in Cork, Belfast and Berlin."

The exhibition is supported by the CWW, Cork City Council Heritage Office and the Heritage Council.

"Over the weekend, we would expect about 300 people to attend," says Andrea. "People come from Manchester, Newcastle and London as well as from all over Ireland. People from America on holidays here who find out about it sometimes come back the following year.

"On each night, there will be an introduction to honour the pioneers that began this weekend."