The Dinah

Dinah Shore Festival… For me it was “something from the movies” as many things are, here in North America. It was at the top of my bucket list and I felt like I needed to go, at least once! So as many quotes say “don’t dream it, do it”. I scooped up Sarah and we booked tickets and a hotel room. Oh yes, I was going to be part of The Dinah 2019. Keep reading if you want to know more about my experience.

But first. For everyone who is reading this and thinking: The “what” shore festival? Just some more information about this amazing festival. The Dinah is the largest and most famous lesbian/queer girl party music festival in the world. The festival attracts 15.000+ women from all over the world. It had it’s first edition 29 years ago. It is hosted the first weekend of April in Palm Springs, California and runs from Thursday to Sunday. Performers such as Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Tegan and Sara and Meghan Trainer played at The Dinah during previous editions.

Wednesday

The festival runs from Thursday to Sunday but on Wednesday there is a pre party. Both me and Sarah were already in Palm Springs so we decided to go check it out. We walked to the Hilton Hotel were all the action would be happening that weekend. It was a quiet “meet and greet” party with only a few women. We found out really quickly that it is super easy to make new friends and get to know new people at the Dinah. On our first night we met Jamey (USA), Ang (AUS) and Kristy (AUS).

Thursday

After a good first night of sleep, we decided to go grocery (read: alcohol and snacks) shopping. After a day of chilling at the pool and catching up with Sarah we were ready for our first real Dinah party. Off to the Village Pub, where the official opening party was hosted. I was still soaking in first impressions when Sarah suddenly said: ‘Jay! Incoming!’ and pointed at the girl walking in the room. I couldn’t help but scream. I had been following Tiny Snow Dancer (Scarlett Snow) for a while on Instagram. She’s an amazing dancer and we both knew she was going to be at The Dinah and dance on all the parties. I just kind of assumed it wouldn’t be possible to get close to her. But there she was. Right in front of me. A little bit later I spotted her girlfriend and Instagram influencer, Danie. I went to say hi to Danie and gave Tiny Snow Dancer my first tip. I decided this was UNREAL.

Although lots of people warned me and everyone said ‘don’t go hard on your first night, you won’t make it through the weekend’. I didn’t listen… When the party ended we went to the Hilton and partied on. A mistake, so I realized the very next day…

Friday

On Friday I tried to fight my hangover and lack of sleep. We arrived late at the ‘Thank God It’s Dinah Friday’ pool party and chilled on the side of the pool. After a well needed nap we got ready for the Black and White ball. It was nice to see how everyone tried to stick to the dresscode in their own way. I used my brain cells during this party and we got back to the hotel around 2:30.

Saturday

Since we didn’t have a very late night we managed to get to the pool party a bit earlier on Saturday. Saturday = L word pool party.

We got ourselves a Babe bucket (Babe is a type of sparkling wine) and chilled at Jamey’s Cabana (making friends comes in handy!). I tried to contain myself and bought only 2 “Androgynous Fox” shirts. Androgynous Fox is one of my favorite brands but to order a shirt and ship it to Belgium, you pay way more for shipping than for the actual tshirt…

During this pool party I met another one of my favorite celesbians, Arielle! She took the time to talk to me and came out of the VIP section to take a photo with me. I loved to see how nice all these women are in person, it blew my mind and got me all star struck.

After a nice dinner and a nap we were ready to go to the Hollywood party. We enjoyed the performance of Daya and decided to stick to water and red bull that night.

Sunday

After a sleep in and some food we were off to the Hilton for our last Dinah pool party: the Sunday Fun day pool party. We were there for maybe 5 min when Jamey decided I was going to participate in the Dyke-ini contest. I wasn’t convinced at all but 10 min later I was chugging a cup of pure alcohol and dancing my ass off on the main stage in front of 1000’s of lesbians. I was trying to win a ticket for The Dinah 2020 but everyone who knows me well enough, knows I don’t have moves so I got sent of the stage quicker than I got on! Best thing about this was probably that I made 2 new friends: Trang (CAN) and Paige(CAN).

After a nap and some food we got ready for the last Dinah party. I felt like I was running a fever and could barely swallow because of my sore throat but hey! I payed so much money to get here, better make the best of it. So off we went to the official closing party. Everyone must have been thinking: this is the last party, we have to go hard! ‘Cause wow there were a lot of drunk girls that night. I teamed up with Paige and we drank water all night. I went home early because I didn’t really feel any better…

Monday

After a horrible night, I was 100% sure I had a terrible fever and I could barely speak or swallow. Off to the doctor in the US… Long story short. I had a high fever, a strep throat and payed $225 to see a doctor. (thanks to my travel insurance, I got all the money back)

I eventually got back to Grande Prairie but it took me a while to get better.

So being part of The Dinah 2019 was unreal and amazing. Just being surrounded by all these beautiful women and just being able to be yourself, it’s the best thing ever. I hope I will make it back one day but I will never do a full weekend again. They say “go hard or go home” and I did…

I will be back soon with more au pair and travel stories!

Love,

Joke/Jay