Over the weekend of June 25 and 26, Feminist Book Club had the immense privilege to visit Twin Cities Pride with our purple tent and hexing candles in tow. This was our second opportunity to celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride with the community of the Twin Cities and visitors from near and far. Last year, we had a wonderful time sharing some favorite reads like Disability Visibility and One Last Stop and this year was no different. (You can read more about our first year at Pride here).
This year Twin Cities Pride was bigger than ever with a full week long celebration and a performance from Carly Rae Jepson on Saturday night at the Armory in Minneapolis. One of the most memorable moments from the week was the renaming of the Pride Parade to the Pride March in recognition of all of the work that still needs to be done for the rights of LGBTQIA+ people everywhere.
About Our Booth at Pride
This year our booth at Pride had a whole bookcase filled to the brim with books that would end up flying off the shelves. We had a display at the front of our tent with our “Blind Date with a Book” which was our way of drawing visitors from near and far to Feminist Book Club. Inside our tent, we had a Mega Box giveaway with a box valued at over $200 that Pride goers could sign up for a chance to win. We had over 500 entries for our Mega Box!
With all of this in mind, one of the biggest draws to the Feminist Book Club booth was none other than the hexing of SCOTUS.
The Hexing
In response to the infuriating SCOTUS decision to reverse the landmark Roe V. Wade case on June 24, Feminist Book Club set up a very popular and needed hexing of SCOTUS.
We went through many notebooks worth of paper with hundreds of people coming to our booth to share their grievances and wishes for the supreme court. After Pride, we actually held our hexing of SCOTUS using these messages on Instagram and TikTok. To sum up the sheer amount of hexes we received from Pride, we had to have two separate live events spanning about one hour each. The Twin Cities community really had a lot to say!
Popular Purchases
This year we offered something new to Feminist Book Club- Blind Date with a Book. For only $15, visitors were able to purchase a wrapped up book based solely on the saying on the front which included reviews, the general feeling of the book, and the recommendation from Rah, Renee, and Claudia. We sold over 100 Blind Dates with a Book which required feverish wrapping on Saturday night after the first day of Pride because we sold out within hours of the festival starting.
Besides Blind Dates, there were a few bags that were flying off the shelves. Unsurprisingly, Fierce Fairytales (which was a bestseller for Pride 2021) was a hit. But another popular book was The Witches Heart due to its reputation of being “surprisingly queer” and Beyond the Gender Binary which we featured in our June Trans Voices Box.
All book purchases came with the Feminist Book Club tote bag which were featured in our Gabrielle Union x Feminist Book Club Box. This tote bag is so iridescent that it was perfect for all of the glowing smiles and bright colors that Pride held.
Our most popular products that were sold had to be the sun catchers from both Decor n Beyond and Boss Dotty as well as the bandanas from Kwonotations.
Where to find us next!
Feminist Book Club had such an amazing time connecting with the Twin Cities community during Pride Festival 2022 but now we are resting and recharging for our first Book Fair at Harriet Island Regional Park where we will be partnering with OneShelf. Find more information about the Book Fair held on July 23, 2022 from 11:00-4:00 at one-shelf.com/book-fair.
