GAY & LESBIAN TRAVEL STORIES

Where the Girls Are

The heyday of gay men's circuit parties may be on the wane, but lesbians have recently caught on to the party fever. In the last several years, a number of huge circuit party-type events have sprouted up to draw lesbians to the sun and the fun. These events have several things in common: Thousands of scantily clad lesbians frolicking pool-side in tropical environments; celebrity entertainers (also likely scantily clad); and large, late-night dance parties with "white" in the title. The latter is a bit of a mystery to me, because white is not exactly the most flattering color for everyone, but hey, to each her own.

But these circuit parties have a precedent: They may be fueled by Red Bull and house music these days, but the history of women gathering together to create raucous good fun goes back to the women's music festivals of the 1970s (some of which are still thriving). These spring break-type extravaganzas still offer music, and they still offer ladies, but there are some improvements, among them plumbing and room service. Party on, girls!

Winter Party Festival
Feb. 28-March 5, 2007
South Beach (Miami, Fla.)
http://www.winterparty.org

One of the few gay circuit parties with a separate track for women, the Winter Party Festival began in 1994 as a one-time event, but has since expanded to a six-day festival that benefits the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Miami-Dade LGBT organizations. But despite events for women, including a Saturday night dance called Industry, a jazz brunch, golf and a tennis tournament, it's clear that the Winter Party Festival is largely for the boys.

So if you head down to the Winter Party Festival with your girlfriends, be sure to prepare yourself for lots of topless men, especially during the event's climactic Beach Party on Sunday, which reportedly draws about 5,000 revelers. Then again, Winter Party also offers a women-only kayaking excursion on Saturday morning with the following enticing words: "Glide by manatees and multi-million dollar manses... catch a glimpse of frolicking dolphins or a sun-bathing celebrity." Manatees--that's where it's at.

Dinah Shore Weekend
March 28-April 1, 2007
Palm Springs, Calif.

In case any of you were wondering, the Kraft Nabisco Championship (a major LPGA golf tournament taking place on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course) actually does take place in Palm Springs, Calif., the same weekend as the massive lesbian party that has since eclipsed the athletic event and stolen its name. Last year, the two major producers of Dinah Shore weekend (Girl Bar and Club Skirts) parted ways, resulting in a somewhat confusing but even more party-drenched weekend of lesbians in bikinis, celebrity guests and hoopla.