07/30/2025
byeeeee from
dj sarah akawa,
hot summer g**s,
& d**e dive
After more than a decade of curating and creating q***r nightlife spaces with the best q***r community I could imagine, I’m stepping away from my role as DJ and promoter.
Back in 2014 when I started throwing parties (real ones remember She Said Party with Tinashe) and DIY pop ups (s/o Q***r Pressure), the Madison scene was a bit barren for q***rs/d**es/trans people, and even more so for q***r people of color. We wanted something else, explicitly political spaces where we could be our full selves. We wanted parties that we wanted to go to and spaces for people who didn’t have a space.
This eventually grew into Hot Summer G**s (2017) and D**e Dive (ty endlessly Kelli K) and everything in between (art pop ups and various collabs). It has been an immense privilege to try to make the spaces that we were just barely dreaming of a decade ago with all of you.
Let’s dance and commune together one last time at the final hot summer g**s on 8/2/25 at High Noon, then I’ll be on indefinite hiatus from DJing and parties (ok…except for 11/14 at Olbrich Conservatory and one spring celebration).
I’m honored to have held this little place in Madison q***r history with each and every one of you. Grateful to more people and places than I could ever name in one post. Thankful there are many others working to create q***r spaces and expression (too many to name but check out djs: [msn] femme noir, millbot, fuzzy duck, huck sin, bunk, dreamgirl; [chi] all the way kay; [mke] Maia b, mowiah, r3algirl, dripsweat.)
Drop your fave memory in the comments for a rainy day 🔥☀️🌈
