Host A Cozy Holigay Meet-Up, Meet Straddlers, Spread Cheer!

Holigays 2018 Meet Ups Autostraddle

Design by Mika Albornoz

Welcome to the middle of November! Did this month sneak up on anyone else? But here we are – a few days out from Thanksgiving. Does Thanksgiving feel oddly early this year? It does, doesn’t it. Anyway here we are TODAY, the perfect day to start thinking about the holigays, and the meet ups we’re going to host together to celebrate them! HELLO!

Here at Autostraddle Headquarters, we’ve decided the theme of the holigays for 2018 is COZY. It’s been such a cold year; let’s be warm with each other. Every year, we encourage our readers to hold IRL meet-ups to connect with fellow Straddlers around the holigays time. Some of our staff members will also host meet-ups, but we rely heavily on our dedicated and loving community to help make this truly a family affair. It’s always a sweet time.

What could a holigay meet up look like? That’s largely up to you! How exactly would you like to cozy up with a bunch of queers and celebrate the fall and winter holigays? That includes Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, Solstice, and New Year’s Eve. The possibilities are endless!

Here are some ideas: Friendsgiving. A book club where you read An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States. A hot chocolate party. A DIY fire cider party. A potluck. A snuggie party. A get together to craft holigay cards. The list goes on. There are so many ways to be cozy. Tell me what you’re envisioning in the comments.

If you want to host a Cozy Holigay Meet-Up, here’s what to do:

+ Decide what you’d like to do, taking accessibility into account and aiming to make it as inclusive an event as possible. Here’s our Meet-Up Resources & FAQ, for guidance and inspiration!

+ Submit your meet-up plans here!

+ If you take and post photos at your event (make sure you get everyone’s consent before posting photos!) tag your ~content~ #holigays2018 so our social media team can see how cute you are and repost your festivities to our accounts!

If you have questions or concerns, please address them in the comments! I’ll babysit this post from now through January 1, 2019 so I’ll be available to answer the questions I can and to help us all have a very nice holigay season together! And if you’re on the fence about hosting a holigay meet-up, DO IT! Who doesn’t love to spend the holigays cozying up with queer family?

Once folks have submitted events I’ll update this post to reflect them, so check back here frequently to see if there’s a cozy Holigay 2018 event happening in your very town / city / galaxy! And if not…I think you should probably host one. You know you want to.

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Vanessa

Vanessa is a writer, a teacher, and the community editor at Autostraddle. Very hot, very fun, very weird. Find her on twitter and instagram.

Vanessa has written 404 articles for us.

34 Comments

    • you’re welcome! i’m really appreciative to the folks who have commented in the past asking for that, and for their help in helping me figure out how to best implement it. our commenters and community members are the best. :)

    • I am a big fan of the If You Build It, They Will Come mentality! Why not submit an event and see if there is interest? I’ve also found in the past that if folks have even one other friend in the area (not always the case I know but IF), it can be really helpful and nice to co-host, because that way if no one shows up (worst case scenario but it’s 2018 and I’m into being real, lol) you’re at least having a nice hang out with a friend anyway, and if people do show up you have a co-host to help manage any nervousness, and you’re twice as likely to spread the word because two hosts telling everyone about an event is better than one!

      That’s my two cents! We’re also always blasting events on our social media so if you do decide to host one we can certainly help publicize. Thank you for considering! Excited for you!

      • Thanks for your elaborate reply Vanessa! I have a queer-owend venue in mind where they organize all sorts of cozy and accesible events, I am sure they would also find some people to attend in case of an Autostraddle-no-show, but I would feel more comfortable suggesting it to them if I knew there was at least one reader out there looking for a meet up in my city? 4 people liked the comment so that’s probably a good sign.

        @Ish: would you travel to Rotterdam?

  5. This is a long shot, but would anyone be up for a meetup in the North Bay Area of CA? and maybe even with kids?… :)

  6. Every year I tell myself I’ll host something in Madison, WI… maybe this year’s the one since it’s my last here?

    Has there been an article at all about hosting ideas/themes/what to do? I need to start with something to turn down the hosting pressure a little haha

  7. Yay! I’ll put together a Seattle event. Last year’s was a great success and I’m excited to meet up with new and old friends!

  8. Hi Sydney Peeps.

    Last year I ran a swim and craft situation at Prince Alfred Park Pool near Central as our holigay party. It was a raving success, so, we are doing it again. Should have event logisitcs sorted out in the next week or so.

    If you are unfamiliar with that particular pool:

    it is accessible (including change rooms)
    the local pool attendees usually include a strong smattering of the rainbow types

    If you are unfamiliar with the Sydney straddler group:

    we are trans welcoming
    we are bi welcoming
    we broke no shit re: racist bs
    there is usually too much food
    we try and have economically accessible events
    if you give me a heads up re: acceessibility needs I will do my darndest re: location
    nobody is forced to craft / swim if they dont want to etc. re: consent

    • I love this so much!! Autostraddle’s strong Australian contingency always brings me so much joy. When you’ve figured out the logistics please submit to the meet-up portal :) I wish I could come!

  9. Atlanta straddlers, I will bring homemade gluten free baked goods if someone else is willing to host a meet-up! Let’s all wear our chunky beach sweaters (beach not included).

  10. Okay between December 23rd-30th I would be glad to host an event in Portland! I would LOVE to bake for said event and would love if possible to make it (an opt-in but not exclusionary) fundraiser for AS! Possibly crafts? I’m not sure where to host though? Where would be an accessible, warm, cozy location for this? Any other Portlanders into this idea that could host?

    • omg Jay I love this so so so much. you should reach out to Maria of Seagrape – maybe she would be open to hosting again? I wish I could come SO BADLY but I won’t be in town until the 30th so I think I have to miss it – but the idea of an AS fundraiser makes my heart EXPLODE.

      <3

      • Oh good idea! I will do that, hopefully soon so I can get this planned! :D
        Right, I wish you could make it too <3 I wish I could host it later but I can't really, NYE is a sacred holiday of solitude for me and I'm having surgery on the 2nd. Gotta fit this in between end of my term/end of thesis (AH!) and surgery time.

    • I did it in Portland in October…2016, I wanna say? And it was so fun and a big success! Strongly recommend!

  13. Hello! I am delurking to say, anyone interested in Ottawa, ON in January? If there is interest I am happy to plan and host!

  14. Heya, is anyone in Canberra? I’m thinking of organising a little something! Maybe with cookies? Maybe with crafts? Maybe at Smiths? But maybe it would just be me at smiths eating cookies and making crafts?

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