Teeming with accessibility-focused events, this year’s Exposure Queer Arts and Culture Festival promises to "question, inspire, celebrate and expand the spectrum of Queer expressionism" from October 20th to 23rd in Alberta’s capital city.

In its fifth annual run, Exposure has begun an ongoing partnership with the SPACE project, which promotes the assembly of community in sustainable, political, accessible spaces in Edmonton. As such, all Exposure 2011 events will be held in venues both physically and monetarily accessible to all, meaning pay what you can or suggested donation. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

"Partnering with the SPACE project is a natural extension of Exposure’s commitment to social justice, a commitment that extends beyond fighting homophobia to fighting racism, sexism, ableism and working for economic justice," says Exposure Chair Catherine (Cato) Clune-Taylor. "We want this to be a festival for the community, that the community has a real hand in the making of, and a real investment in."

"Furthermore, we want the festival to be a vehicle for positive change, not only within the queer community, but within Edmonton and Alberta at large," she continues. "For this reason we felt it particularly important to make clear that Exposure was not simply working for sexual justice, but for social justice for everyone."

Information on the accessibility features of every venue that will be part of this year’s festival will be available on the Exposure website. If you notice the website looking a little blank, that’s because the team has been hard at work finding suitable venues, a greater challenge over years past, but the festival program will be ready for perusal.

"Happily [the site] is currently under construction and we do have a team of fabulous folks working on it," Cato says. The festival does, however, require volunteers for other projects including preparation and hands for the events themselves. Those interested are asked to email Exposure volunteer coordinator Crystal (volunteer@exposurefestival.ca).

In addition to new and exciting events 2011’s festival promises the return of old favourites. The festival will once again be partnering with the Jubilee Theatre Auditorium to present the Arty Carnival Redux, an interactive family program slated to take place the afternoon of Sunday, October 23rd.

The Mindful Queer Body Workshop is also back – an opportunity for community members to "explore the issues of self care in the context of non-normative bodies and lives," and, Cato says, "the festival closing party looks to be just as much raucous fun as in previous years."

Brand new to 2011, the festival is thrilled to be opening with Papirmasse-a-thon Exposure, a collaborative event led by Edmonton born, Montreal based artist Kirsten McCrea.

"Kirsten’s commitment to making art accessible led her to found Papirmasse (www.papimasse.com), a monthly art subscription wherein subscribers receive a new print in the mail every month for only $5 a month," Cato describes. "Over the course of this eight hour event, which will stretch from the afternoon into the evening, festival patrons are invited to come and take part in the printmaking process, with a new Papirmasse print being produced every hour."

The eight Papirmasse prints will be exhibited at the closing party on Saturday, October 22nd, and prints of these will be on sale for $1 each.

Thursday evening also offers a reading by Toronto based queer author Farzana Doctor from her new book Six Metres of Pavement.

"Farzana’s first novel, 2007’s Stealing Nasreen, received immense critical acclaim and we are thrilled she is able to stop in Edmonton and spend some time with Exposure on her way to the Vancouver International Writers Festival," Cato says.

For anyone who has ever wanted to drag or vogue, a Drag and Vogue workshop will take place on Saturday, where participants can "get out there and strut their stuff with two seasoned veterans of the stage." Added bonus: those who take part in the workshop will get to perform in the closing festival party later that evening.

"This year, the board felt we really wanted to not only give back to the community that has supported us such that we can celebrate our fifth anniversary this year, but we wanted to queer the traditional passive art experience," says Cato. "For this reason, you definitely see more of an emphasis in our program on interactive events; collaborative works."

As with most festivals, Exposure would not be possible without community fundraisers and good sponsors. A QueerCuts Dance Party, October 8th at the Ponytails and Horeseshoes Salon  and the Jekyll and Hyde Pub, will mark the festival’s third fundraiser of the year. Attendees can get their coiffures cut for a suggested donation of only $10.

While their first two fundraisers, All Bodies Pool Parties I and II, didn’t generate an overwhelming amount of funds for the festival, Cato still touts them "unqualified successes."

"We rented outdoor pools that were physically accessible, and made the washrooms gender neutral, providing a safe and accessible space for those members of our community who might not normally feel comfortable, or be physically able to go to a public pool.  It gave them the opportunity to relax with friends, have some snacks, swim and simply enjoy themselves at a pool party," she says.

Keep your eyes open for more events like these throughout the year; to be held indoors of course.

Exposure also thanks sponsors HIV Edmonton, TD Bank, VUE Weekly, GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine, and their volunteers.

"Volunteering with the festival is an amazing way to get involved, to meet other wonderful, rad, queer folks in the community and to learn more about how the festival works from the inside," Cato says.  "We’re also going to begin board recruitment during the festival, so we would like to invite anyone who is interested in getting involved with the board to come out to the festival and chat with board members."