Call for Papers for Outing the Past 2019

Cara-Friend is delighted to announce that Outing the Past will return to Northern Ireland next year. Not only will Cara-Friend present Outing the Past, Belfast over the weekend of March 8th & 9th 2019, but we will also present a similar festival in Derry-Londonderry with our partners in The Rainbow Project and Foyle Pride over the weekend of March 1st-3rd 2019.

Outing the Past is Ireland’s only LGBTQI+ History Festival which took place for the first time ever at the Ulster Museum earlier this year. It was a roaring success with over 200 people attending the launch of the festival in Belfast City Hall with the Lord Mayor, and similar numbers attending the paper presentations in the Museum the following day.

Cara-Friend’s aim in facilitating the festival in Belfast and Derry-Londonderry is to make LGBTQI+ people aware of their history and their heritage, while educating the general public about the struggles and triumphs of our community here in Ireland and further afield.

Short popular presentations of history are delivered as part of the festival. If you have a story tell, research to share, or an interest you want to explore more, then why not email us for an application form to present at Outing the Past in either Belfast or Derry-Londonderry?

“Outing the Past, Belfast 2018, though extremely successful, was subject to some criticism about the range of topics which were covered over the course of the festival” says Declan Meehan, Deputy Director of Cara-Friend and coordinator of the festival. “However we can only select papers for the festival based on what comes through at the application stage. So we would encourage everyone who has a story of their own, or a story they have discovered, to apply to present at both Outing the Past hubs next year. It’s vital that the histories presented are diverse, reflective of experiences here and elsewhere, and are captured for posterity.”

Applications for expressions of interest are open until October 1st 2018. Contact Declan Meehan on declan.meehan@cara-friend.org.uk for more information.

Outing the Past, Derry-Londonderry will take place from March 1st-3rd 2019.

Outing the Past, Belfast will take place from March 8th-9th 2019.