[Flyer and T-Shirt For Lavender World's Fair].

[Los Angeles]: [Lavender World Productions], [1976]. 11” x 8 ½”. Broadside printed one side + Fruit of the Loom T-shirt printed both sides. Flyer very good with waviness at bottom; T-shirt very good plus or better.

This is a flyer and t-shirt for a reasonably early LGBTQ+ festival that failed spectacularly. The 1st Annual Lavender World's Fair was held April 17th and 18th, 1976 at the L.A. County Fairgrounds at Pomona. It was promoted by Lavender World Productions (“LWP”), an entity which surreptitiously booked the event and disconnected its phone number the day after the fair concluded.

Around three months prior to the festival, LWP booked the fairgrounds for Easter weekend for an event it called, “Picnic in the Park.” The fairgrounds learned LWP's real plans when a Los Angeles ticket agency reached out asking to confirm that the “Gay World's Fair” would be held there on the specified dates. LWP then admitted the truth to the fairgrounds.

In the leadup to the fair, LWP estimated an attendance of 50,000. The flyer offered here touted it as the “world's largest outdoor disco laser light show extravaganza,” as well as a “spectacular grandstand concert.” A spokesman for LWP also said, “the first annual Lavender World's Fair could well turn out to be a gay Woodstock,” as he rattled off headliners for performances which included the Pointer Sisters, Iron Butterfly and Wolfman Jack. They also had to change the name of the event as “Gay World's Fair” was owned by someone else. Fair officials wanted to cancel the contract, but they listened to their lawyers who said they could not. Contemporary newspaper reports show that anti-gay activist Ray Batema and his Central Baptist Church of Pomona led a protest to stop the event from happening. They claimed to have 4,000 signatures on petitions, failed to prevent the festival from taking place, and apparently only a handful showed up to protest.

These huge promises were met with little follow through, as LWP allegedly ran out of money. The headliners didn't show because they had not been paid and the heavily promoted sunrise Easter service was canceled. Estimates of attendees on the first day ranged from five to ten thousand, with reports of the second stating only a few hundred showed. In the days after the fair, hundreds sought refunds for their tickets, only to learn that LWP had disappeared.

Not in OCLC.


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Price: $175.00