Hoechella: Droppin' Glitter Bombs and Body Love

This weekend was -- quite possibly -- the most glitter-filled weekend of my life, and I’ve been to a Kesha concert, folks. What force of nature could leave my couches permanently stained with gold glitter, and my floors in need of investment in Stanley Steemer? And I do mean force of nature. That was not a typo. Hoechella was an experience.

Hoechella was a free music festival/community event on August 26th and 27th to raise awareness and combat slut shaming, rape culture, and unjust legislation that affects people's bodily autonomy. The lineup featured a diverse array of artists, mostly women, people of color, and people who identify as queer. Nearly $3,400 was collected over the course of the two-day event for Girls Rock Columbia and Girls Rock Charleston, and boxes of feminine care products were donated by attendees to the Women’s Shelter on North Main Street. Hoechella was more or less dripping in feel-good. Kari Lebby, a.k.a. the mastermind behind Hoechella, managed to design and plan the entire event, emcee the evening, and DJ 'till the wee hours, whilst also in heels and a mermaid unitard. This year, Hoechella took place at New Brookland Tavern in West Columbia, which supplied a safe and welcoming environment for the shindig of the century. In other words, we were in our element.

Friday, night one of Hoechella, was an all-night dance party. From guitarist and solo artist, Paisley Marie, speaking to our longing, 90’s-girls hearts, to feminist punk band, Glittoris, igniting my vaginal forces, to DJ duo, BRBN, actually twerking tabletop to Beyonce’s Lemonade, if you were MIA, your FOMO should be setting in right about now. Other artists that night included: Del Sur, a nu-tropicalia band from Charleston, Cyberbae, an ambient psychedelic soul-singer from Columbia, sandcastles., Hoechella founder-in-chief Kari Lebby’s summercore band, and Tomboi, an indie-pop electronica band from Jacksonville.

The second evening, Saturday, Hoechella’s unofficial hashtag, #hoechellagonbelit, took on a literal meaning. In the words of Kari: “Hoechella so lit, the power gave out.” After several nonstop hours of entertainment from the queen of Columbia burlesque, Sugar St. Germain, the grunge-pop duo, MyBrother MySister, cosmic americana folk band, She Returns from War, Columbia darling/bae/queen, Debbie and the Skanks, and local self-described Southern-Gothic-Depression-Era-Cheerleader-Metal band, Can’t Kids, the power went out. I like to think that the forces-that-be were probably listening to Hoechella, and their brains exploded at the sheer amount of talent in one, single place. It was glorious.

Not to worry; the lack of power didn’t keep Hoechella attenders down for long. When we weren’t dancing our faces off at the stage, we were dousing ourselves in glitter at the Glitter Booth, hosted by the effervescent beauties at Scenario Collective. Thanks to them, Hoechella will really never die. It will live on, in perpetuity, through the glitter booth. And in my couch.

Numerous nonprofits and advocacy groups were also in attendance. That’s the thing about Hoechella: not only did it specifically raise awareness about issues like slut-shaming, but it also provided a safe and inviting space for numerous local nonprofits and progressive groups to come and engage with the community. Tell Them!, SC Equality, Auntie Bellum, and the Harriet Hancock LGBT Center, were among some those in attendance, as well as Arik Bjorn, candidate for Second Congressional District of South Carolina.

After the glitter settled (and the hangovers subsided), we reached out to Kari to see how he felt now that the first-ever Hoechella is in the bag. “It’s the happiest I've been in a long time, and seeing that many people enjoy themselves worry-free was both inspiring and exciting.”

Go ahead and mark your calendars for Hoechella 2017. You’ll find me at the front, by the stage, covered in glitter, dancing badly, covered in glitter, and covered in glitter. Also, covered in glitter.