PHOTOS: Girls in Wonderland ends the weekend with closing pool party

Photo by Azlyn Cato

ORLANDO | After a jam-packed weekend of drinks, dancing and DJs, Girls In Wonderland concluded its daytime festivities June 7 with a closing “funday” pool party for one final splash.

As part of a four-day celebration centering on sapphics and queer women, the pool party at SpringHill Suites by Marriott & TownePlace Suites featured a poolside twerking contest and the much-anticipated annual muffin-eating competition.

Longtime party goer Christina Reyes stood by the pool during what she believes was her 15th run of Girls in Wonderland. She recalls slipping and sliding topless down the hallways of her hotel during the event years prior.

Reyes says the festival has only gotten better over the years, but says she wishes that more people knew what Girls In Wonderland has to offer.

“I think that if more people knew the safety of what this actually brings to the table, more people would come,” Christina says. “But I think that it’s just not as public as it should be. The girls in Wisconsin need to know.”

Identifying as a lesbian herself, Reyes notes that safe spaces for queer women have dwindled as of late, especially for younger generations. She says that at a time when there are very limited safe havens for the LGBTQ+ community, the festival provides a place for queer people to celebrate who they are without fear of being judged.

Despite all the fun and glam, Cara Cavalli, local drag performer and this year’s host of Girls In Wonderland drag bingo event, says there is a greater purpose behind the party.

Lying beneath a cabana dressed in Paris Hilton-like attire, Cavalli echoes Reyes in stressing the importance of queer people having opportunities to connect in this current political climate.

“In our existence as queer people, it’s very important for us to be able to have our own sense of community, especially publicly,” Cavalli says. “Everyone else gets to just go to the pool and put on a bikini and dance and have fun, and sometimes as queer people it’s not as easy or comfortable, and so for us to be able to do it all together with amazing music, amazing vendors, amazing babes, everyone looks so hot, I think it’s really, really, really important. It’s an act of defiance.”

Reflecting on Orlando’s first week of Pride, Cavalli says that making queer dreams become reality starts with surrounding oneself with the people who love them, at spaces like Girls In Wonderland.

“As a trans woman,” Cavalli says, “the most amazing feeling in the world is looking in the mirror and thinking about my day and being like, ‘I made everything I ever thought couldn’t happen, wouldn’t happen, and I was scared of, I made it happen for myself,’ and I get to share it and celebrate it with other people who are doing the same thing every day.”

Girls in Wonderland was on until June 7 at SpringHill Suites by Marriott & TownePlace Suites, located at 13295 Hartzog Rd. in Winter Garden. For tickets, events and more information, visit GirlsinWonderland.com.

Watermark Out News attended the pool party. View our photos below.

Photos by Azlyn Cato.