DAPUPDATE
LEATHER WINDS UP AT REVIVALS BACK ALLEY AFTER-DARK BY JACK BUNTING
People donate everything to Revivals, and we mean everything. One of the most interesting collections from Revivals was scooped up in a matter of hours after it took almost a year to collect. This community raised $6,000 in the first hour as it shopped on a Sunday last month for all things leather at the Revivals After Dark Back Alley Event. More than 100 people had lined up wearing face coverings before doors opened. Volunteers worked to make the event safe, so that everyone attending could focus on finding incredible deals on a variety of leather clothing, plus accessories, erotic art and literature. These items are donated to Revivals Stores throughout the year and put aside for this special occasion. Hosting the event outdoors was the right thing to do for safety, and it also created an urban feel that was enhanced with upbeat music as people shopped. “We did this to say thank you to the Leather Community also,” says Michael McCartney, Revivals area manager. “From day one they have been a major part of Revivals.” For some, it was an opportunity to experience a popular gay subculture that can be intimidating and costly as well. “This event gives people who want to explore leather, kink, and fetish, but who don’t want to invest too much money up front,” says Charlie Harding, Mr. Palm Springs Leather 2020. “They get to dip their tow in the water.” There is more to it than that, he says. “We’re providing a sexpositive environment that welcomes everyone to come together while we raise money for healthcare access and mental health awareness,” Charlie says. VOLUNTEERS HOSTED AND MONITORED SAFETY Revivals volunteer Mark Musin is usually running the lamps department, but he and about 40 other volunteers pulled together and set up a browsing experience that put safety and spaciousness first. “We used more tables than I thought we would, and we put more space in between them for social distancing,” he says. Mark and the team placed all of the art for sale facing in one
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direction, a move to help guide the flow of people walking without getting too close. “We did the same thing with books and accessories,” Mark says. “We could not have anyone feeling as though they were crowded.” Throughout the event Mark and the team used mobile devices to monitor crowd size and report in with each other. From inside the Palm Springs Revivals store and throughout the back alley, volunteers