Too often, as queer people, we grow up indoctrinated to fear our own bodies, to regret our feelings and repress our desires. But sooner or later, the moment of redemption eventually comes: consciousness finds its own way, love heals and we grow stronger than before. Whole is a place where you can access the hidden rooms of your spirituality and still appreciate some lightness, escaping daily struggles and difficulties.

It’s like a temple, where you can explore your identity, experiment safely with your expression and investigate your emotions. It is also like a playground to relish your body and dance until you can no longer feel your legs or to bounce between lust and pleasure. 

Whole is a festival that offers countless ways of experiencing yourself. You can dance to electronic music in the darkness of a forest or stomp your feet on the concrete floor of an abandoned industrial location. You can camp with your friends and argue about how to properly set up the tents, finishing the last arrangements just as the storm rolls in, only to end up laughing completely soaked. You can lend your favorite lipstick to a stranger who immediately becomes familiar. You can share a bump with an untamed diva that will dance close to your side in the following days, taking care of each other with no specific reason, but natural cohesion.

You can get to know so many different cultures and appreciate the perspectives of people you might never meet again. Lives intertwine, experiences merge and you might fall in love with a quick glance and create a type of connection that will last over the ocean. 

Just to be clear, everything that happens here can and should happen outside as well; it’s just easier to perceive it.

There are thousands of ways of bonding. The power of community is like an electric field during these days: even if invisible, you can easily see it, hidden in proud gazes, between the warm hugs and the wet lips kissing, under the joyful tears marking faces. While old friendships are strengthening, new connections are blooming.

Here, I’ve created some memories that I’ll carry with me forever. House music was connecting us all, we were there, present, together and everything was so right, as it should be. We were levitating freely on the sandy dancefloor at the beach. The air was filled with joy. Some were adorned in bold makeup and shimmery jewels, others were naked and barefoot. The wind blew through my hair, the sunrise warmed my already sunburnt cheeks. As you looked me in the eyes and held me in your arms, for a moment, I could easily feel it – I am free and I am not alone, we are whole.

Freedom has different forms and ways to be lived and perceived, yet only one way to be truly enjoyed: with empathy and intention. What energy are you bringing to the function? Remember that everyone will bring their own, come with respect and authenticity, and participate in creating harmony. Know that some bodies still have fewer rights than others, they’re silenced and, way too often, invisibilized. These bodies deserve the right to exist loudly and visibly. Come with kindness and with your mind wide-open, cause queerness is not only about reclaiming our spaces, but also recognizing our privileges.

When we all come together, we have the power to create a little universe in a world that actively tries to tell us that this is not possible: in that chaos, you can sense how magic is definitely all around us.