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Philly FatCon 2023
(Philadelphia, PA) – You can call it Fat Oktoberfest if you want, but the official name is Philly FatCon. This coming October, at Temple University in Philadelphia, three women from the city of brotherly love are bringing people together for things like body positivity, and body neutrality.
Adrienne Ray is one of the event’s organizers. She runs an online plus-size clothing shop known as Curve Conscious. Ray spoke to the Philadelphia Inquirer and said, “We’re not into the buzzwords because we’ve seen how it affects and impacts people — it makes people feel either included or excluded. That phrase [body positivity] has become bogged down with relating to body image. What people in larger bodies need is to step away from constantly talking about body image, because that can be very triggering for folks who have disabilities, chronic illness, have been dieting on and off all their lives, and developed eating disorders because of it. People just want to be able to be themselves — that’s the dire need for something like Philly FatCon. Some people are not in love with their body every day, but this is the body that they exist in.”
Ray went on to say that “fat Philadelphians” of all shapes and sizes are invited to attend and enjoy a “safe space,” adding people are “often overlooked because of their size, (and) this fatphobic world and society in a different way.” She told the Inquirer that people can come and “connect with other people that look like you, think like you, feel like you, and that understand you.”
The event was born out of The Plus Swap, which is Philadelphia’s largest plus-size clothing swap, and meets at various spots around the city. Last November, Ray, Donnelle Jageman, and Kenyetta Harris started planning something bigger – than announced FatCon on social media in March. The event is planned for October 28 and 29, at Temple University’s Howard Gittis Student Center. Tickets go on sale August 1. There are speakers planned and over 40 vendors will participate.
