More Than Burlesque: Fatlesque Fest Northwest Is Fat Liberation

The space inside The Triple Door crackled with the excitement of a crowd on edge waiting for the first performer of the night. The air was filled with joy, unapologetic celebration, and sensuality. At the final sold-out night of the third-annual Fatlesque Fest Northwest, emcee Alotta Boutté guided the crowd through the evening, teasing them with jokes, poking fun with suggestive innuendo, and encouraging roaring applause as panty bosses collected tips.

The night included over a dozen burlesque performances, ranging from classical striptease to genre-defying dances. Clad head to toe in the song's signature color, Parker Go Peep evoked deep emotional seduction to Prince's "Purple Rain." Festival coproducer Stormy Chance delivered a fan dance that turned into a floor twerk, blending the swirling of feathers with the raw energy of a thrust. Minnesota baddie Queenie Von Curves turned Melissa Ethridge's "I'm the Only One" into an erotic exploration of longing and desire.

Beyond the stage, every corner of the venue catered to the spirit of fat joy, empowerment, and community. The bar area was transformed into a vendor market, featuring fat-positive clothing, handmade jewelry, and art celebrating body diversity. Attendees mingled and shopped while sipping themed cocktails like Stormy Chance, Thunder Thighs, and Thicc, reinforcing the night's unapologetic centering of fat bodies — not just on stage but in every detail of the experience.

The Power of Visibility

Created by Mx. Pucks A'Plenty and coproduced with Stormy Chance, Fatlesque Fest Northwest is one of the few festivals in the world that places fat bodies front and center as the main event, what everyone is there to see, celebrate, and swoon over. The festival coincides with Fat Con, a convention featuring workshops, panels, a marketplace, and community. Fatlesque Northwest was founded to "thicken up burlesque stages all over the country," starting with Seattle's Triple Door.

"I honestly just wanted to see more fat bodies on stage," Pucks said about why they created the event. "I had the opportunity to attend a plus-size burlesque festival in Austin, Texas, back in 2018, and it completely changed my life. It was beautiful, and I wanted more of it."

For the Mistress of Misbehavior, Charlotte Strudel, who has performed in all three years of the festival, the impact of Fastleque Fest Northwest extends far beyond the weekend.

"After coming here, I started my own all-fat body show in Vancouver, B.C.," she said. "It inspired me so much I wanted to create that for people in my own community."

Strudel hopes that those who watch her performances and those of other fat burlesquers can see themselves on that stage knowing that all bodies are worthy of adoration.

For Alison Zwecker, who traveled from Portland to attend the festival, the experience of seeing fat bodies command the stage in a space that makes performers and attendees feel at home is extremely important. Zwecker said that the most memorable moment for her was seeing Charlotte Strudel perform.

"She's super-sized, she's amazing, she's beautiful, and hearing people clap for her, applaud her body, how she looked, and her performance literally brought me to tears."

A Stage Built for Liberation

Burlesque as an art form is rooted in a history of bodily autonomy, radical self-acceptance, and resistance against what society deems acceptable. The stage, where a dancer moves from clothed to unclothed, carries not only the lights, music, and movements of the performer but also the reaction of the audience. During burlesque's heyday, dancers and those paying to see them often challenged established social conduct.

"By encouraging an 'other' discourse that satirized upper-class pretensions and the new codes of social morality, the enjoyment taken in burlesque consolidated the audience," Zoe Detsi-Diamanti wrote in American Studies Journal. She explained that burlesque became a space where performers and spectators could exercise cultural autonomy and define themselves outside the constraints of the dominant norms.

Historically, burlesque has been a place for rebellion, where performers challenge the constraints of mainstream entertainment and redefine what it means to be glamorous, sexy, and powerful enough to own the stage. Pioneers like lesbian dancer Zorita, and Jean Idelle, one of the first African American women to perform in an all-white burlesque troupe, pushed back against restrictive ideas of femininity. Yet, despite this legacy of defiance, modern burlesque or "neo-burlesque" still struggles with representation, particularly when it comes to size. While burlesque is a platform for sexuality, humor, and self-expression, most mainstream burlesque festivals continue to center thin white performers, limiting opportunities for those outside that mold.

"Very few of the burlesque festivals in the country and even in the world are hiring plus-size performers to headline or be feature performers in their festivals," said Pucks. "Fatphobia is real. The gatekeeping is real."

Pucks added that while this year's Top 50 Burlesque Industry Figures in the World List included more plus-size bodies than ever before, producers for shows still overlook fat performers.

To counteract this erasure of fat bodies in burlesque, Fatlesque Fest Northwest doesn't just include fat bodies, it prioritizes them, bringing together fat performers from across the nation. Last year's festival's reach extended even further, welcoming a performer from Poland. The festival's sold-out status proves audiences are ready to devour these performances.

"These are performers that are truly stunning, hilarious, witty, creative, and clever artists — making art from a perspective that is often discarded because of the assumption that what audiences want to see is a stage full of similar looking humans — generally thin, white, and able-bodied," said co-organizer Stormy Chance.

"Since its inception, we've tried our best to make Fatlesque a haven for our performers and a space to give audiences what they actually want, a show full of incredible performers making engaging art."

For Strudel, who attended closing night after performing the night before, the festival holds special meaning. "When I got out on stage last night … I could see the look on the audience members' faces. They're here to see fat bodies and they love them."

Taking Up Space and Taking the Lead While Taking Off Clothes

The success of Fatlesque Fest Northwest proves what its creators and performers have always known: There is a demand for fat bodies in burlesque — on stage, in the audience, and undressed. Yet, keeping the festival alive means navigating the challenges around funding.

"You add plus size to burlesque and it's challenging. I know a lot of art and culture organizations are struggling … We are preparing for leaner years," said Pucks, who remains committed to expanding opportunities for fat talent in burlesque, even in difficult times.

"We are fully about fat liberation and less about body positivity," Pucks explained. "We are specifically talking about fat bodies and how fat bodies are treated not only in art and culture spaces, but in the world at large. The discrimination against fat bodies is wild, anti-fatness is not only commonplace it's tolerated and in some circles celebrated. Our goal is to continue to secure funding, to pay our performers more, and help facilitate more [fat burlesque] performers being on bigger stages."

Burlesque has always been about transformation, the metamorphosis that happens on stage as the performer takes off their clothes. But its impact extends beyond the stage, beyond the layers of silk and sequins that fall to the floor. It reaches into the audience, shaping culture and the narrative around what is worthy of being seen.

"Our audience is full of people who prove that a show can be sold out even if it isn't full of all thin white-presenting femmes. Knowing that we showcase marginalized talent and are able to prioritize putting an array of marginalizations on our stage is a delightful reminder that people want to see themselves. They want to watch a show and understand themselves better, be entertained, feel empowered, and Fatlesque is able to do that and more," said Stormy Chance, reinforcing that Fatlesque Fest Northwest is tied to burlesque's rebellious beginnings by being an example of visibility and radical authenticity.

Each shimmy, twirl, twerk, or smoldering glance from the performers was met with longing gazes, belting cheers, and delirious desire from the audience — a call and response of adoration and radical joy that affirmed fat bodies as powerful, mesmerizing, and worthy of the spotlight at all times.

At one point in the evening, someone on stage reminded the crowd of a truth rarely spoken but deeply felt: Fat is one thing we all have in common — it exists in every shape, size, color, gender, and creed, making it one of the most representative qualities of all.

As Fatlesque Fest Northwest continues to grow, so does its impact. The festival continues to dismantle the structures that erase fat people from the spotlight in burlesque and beyond.

This festival is a reminder that taking up space isn't just allowed — it's the whole point.