Starting the New Year with Fat Joy and Fat Community at Fat Con
Image description: NAAFA Board Members Dawn Clark and Elaine Lee with NAAFA Executive Director Tigress Osborn in a large hotel meeting room for the opening ceremonies at Fat Con Seattle. All three are middle aged fat women wearing black shirts, glasses, and KN95 masks. Dawn is a white person with spiky purple hair: Elaine is a Chinese-American person with short black hair; Tigress is a Black woman with light skin and fluffy brown hair.
By Dawn Clark & Elaine Lee, NAAFA Board Members
Dawn Clark:
One of my hopes for 2024 was to experience more Fat Joy and, man, did that happen at Fat Con in Seattle!
It refreshed my soul to not only see fat joy, but to see artists and vendors that love fat bodies. For most of my life, I have always been told that fat bodies are to be covered up and hidden from the world because “no one wants to see that.” Here, bodies of many shapes and sizes were celebrated.
It was also good to see the different presentations that were offered. You could choose anything from “Ask a Doctor,” to “Celebrating Fat Sex,” to “Fat Liberation 101”.
I want to thank the Fat Con team for giving NAAFA a space to talk to people and discuss the Campaign for Size Freedom.
I am looking forward to next year and I hope more people will be able to attend!
Elaine Lee:
Fat Con 2024, held in Seattle, WA, on January 5-7, 2024 was a blast! It was held on the same weekend as the Fatalesque Fest Northwest nearby. Those lucky enough to score tickets to the sold-out Fatalesque performances enjoyed a flabulous fat burlesque experience on Friday and Saturday evenings after a full day of Fat Con activities. No worries if you didn’t get Fatalesque tickets though, Fat Con had evening entertainment covered with hilarious performances from DC-based fat musical duo Griefcat and stand-up comedy troupe Sizeable Shenanigans.
Fat Con 2024 was well-attended, and a memorable experience for all lucky enough to attend. It was held at the Hyatt at Olive 8 in downtown Seattle. Keynotes and special guests included such fat luminaries as Alotta Boutté, Saucye West and NAAFA’s very own Tigress Osborn. The conference facilities were vetted by the conference organizers Mx. Pucks-A-Plenty and their amazing conference team for accessibility, with ample armless seating available and nearby elevator access for all events. Masks were strongly recommended in all conference areas to help protect all attendees from unwelcome viruses. The Seattle chapter of Dykes on Bikes was even on hand to provide security support against any unwelcome fat trolling visitors. A plethora of fat liberation shopping experiences was also available at the Fat Babes Marketplace, where Fat Con attendees could peruse everything from fat artwork, fat pottery, fat jewelry, fat chiropractic care, fat new and vintage clothing, and size inclusive gender inclusive swimwear. Fat Con even provided a shuttle for conference attendees to go shop at Seattle’s legendary Two Big Blondes plus size clothing shop.
It was wonderful and life-affirming to soak up a weekend full of fat joy and fat love. I came home refreshed and ready to tackle another challenging year ahead.
(Editor’s Note: Dawn and Elaine attended Fat Con as participants and were not sponsored by NAAFA or FatCon to attend. Our Executive Director, Tigress Osborn, was an invited keynote speaker and panelist at the conference. FatCon donated a table for NAAFA and other groups who were not conference vendors to share community resources.)