Camp Boom In the City is happening November 26 & 27 in central Wellington.
When I started House of Boom four years ago, I was very conscious that I didn’t just want to make money – I wanted to do good. The Boom kaupapa is all about helping myself and other fat people reject the world’s attempts to make us ashamed or keep us hidden away.
Having finally found myself some fat friends I know just how powerful it is to not be the only fat one in the room. Just existing is easier when you’re with people who have similar experiences to you. Everyone deserves to have that joy.
I’ve been at fashion events and social enterprise camps where I’ve been the only fat person and it amazed me how they would speak of diversity but not consider bodies other than their own. Fuck that. So I decided to create my own space.
The first Camp Boom happened in November 2020 at Silverstream Retreat. We were supposed to have Camp Boom 2021 in Taupō, but COVID caused that cancellation.
In order to make Camp Boom 2022 a less risky and expensive gamble in these COVID times, and to increase its accessibility, I’ve decided to make it a two-day day-camp without offering accommodation.
What you can expect
Camp Boom is for fat women & fat gender minorities, age 18+. And it goes without saying but we’ll say it loudly anyway: trans women are women. You are welcome. As to what fat is – there’s no tape measure involved here. You know if you’re fat or not.
At Camp, you’ll be safe. You’ll be in a fun, wonderful space. We hope you’ll come away energised and maybe with a new friend or two.
We’ll celebrate you, your body and our fabulous fat community – not in a cliched “here’s a quote to post on Instagram” kind of way, but by living our best lives surrounded by kickass people to learn from. And we’ll have an awesome time doing it.
A capitalism disclaimer
We’ll have a range of House of Boom clothes for you to try at Camp Boom if you want to, because we know how much it sucks ordering from the internet without trying things on. We’ll never pressure you to buy anything.
If you’re coming to Camp and have a side hustle (or full time gig), we’d love to provide you a space to sell your wares too. This is how we support each other.
All speakers are getting compensated for their time. The venue and the caterers are Living Wage Accredited. Scholarships are available to make this a more equitable event and you can donate to extra scholarships over on the House of Boom site – donations start at $5.
Money is not and has never been the reason for throwing this event, but obviously House of Boom is a business that needs to make money selling clothes to our fat community. Its sales pay for real wages for other New Zealand-based businesses.
Camp Boom 