The creative minds behind Sapphic Saturdays are a powerhouse unit who are dedicated to creating sapphic-only spaces in Saskatoon. Co-producers Lauren Froese and Ivana Beer, A.K.A. the dream team behind Sapphic Saturdays, discussed everything sapphic from their favourite stereotype to the biggest reward from their events. Their infectious joy, commitment and appreciation took center stage during this interview, and it’s not hard to see why they work together so well.

To keep an eye out for the next Sapphic Saturdays event, you can either go to the Sapphic Saturdays website or Instagram @sapphic.saturdays.yxe

Levesque: If Sapphic Saturdays was a celebrity, who would it be?

Beer: That’s a huge question.

Froese: That’s a massive question, holy shit… Okay I’ll go with my first instinct because I was going to say Meryl Streep because she’s the best. She’s won all the awards. We haven’t won any awards but we’re hoping for [it]. And then she’s got all these beautiful children that all kind of look like her, you know, it’s the same organizational structure. We’ve got the big name, we’ve got the smaller different pockets with the trivia and now line dancing and all the other things.

Beer: Okay so, Octomom.

Levesque: If Saturdays are sapphic, what sexualities would you assign to the other days of the week?

Froese: Monogamous Mondays.

Beer: Trans Tuesdays.

Froese: WLW Wednesdays for the lesbians.

Beer: Just for the lesbians. Thirsty queer Thursdays, for them thirsty queers. Furry Fridays. And sapphic Saturdays and sapphic Sundays for the post-sapphic scaries… Sapphic rollover.

Froese: It’s actually a real thing… We’ve had people be like, “Is it normal to feel sad after Sapphic Saturday? And I go, “Yeah, yeah, like I am, but for other reasons.”

Beer: The dopamine crash… I always buy a trinket after. I bought my first Labubu after the Y2k [Sapphic Saturday].

Levesque: Which Sapphic Saturday was your favourite?

Beer: Sapphic Circus was my first favourite because circus. I’m a clown hooker. And I, instead of going clown with it, I went strong man with it and did a really cool strong man performance where I carried around an empty keg and dove into an ice bath, a full real bathtub of ice, to rest those muscles that definitely didn’t carry a full keg.

And then the U-Haul was really important because it was our first big one. It was going from Stumbletown to Louis’... we had a capacity of 100 to 500, and it was really our first time doing this full-time. We were working on it almost every day, and everyone loved it, and it paid off, and it was awesome.

The first one, like the first one Lauren booked me… she booked me to do three performances, which was fucking crazy, [and] in a row, and I changed for every single one because I’m crazy. But they were all really great performances; it was the start of something beautiful. I told Lauren that I would sweep the floor to be a part of it. I would do anything. And I also met my partner at the first Sapphic Saturdays and we’re coming on a year being together. So, sap fest.

Froese: So sappy… [My favourite] was the Scare. So that was the first one we produced together, and we sold out in 13 minutes. And then I texted [Beer] and I said, “WTF should I just book a second night?” And I was so scared because it was the first time I would risk something like that. And [Beer] was like, “Let’s fucking send it.” And that one was really cool. It was the first time we built stuff together, we bought our first asset for that one, we spent probably six hours packing treat bags for the trick or treat activation till four in the morning while [Beer was] building a vagina box. It was like the first time we got to fully collaborate, and I think it was the first time we realized we’re like, “Okay, we’re actually dream team material and this is just the beginning.”

Beer: We’re perfect business partners, but we’re also really good friends.

Levesque: What’s your favourite sapphic stereotype?

Froese: I [don’t have one] but I still just really want a sponsorship from a different moving company, like a local moving company. So in Saskatoon, it’s not U-Hauling it’s like whatever our sponsorship is. So I’m just saying that to manifest [it].

Beer: Love it… My favourite sapphic stereotype is scissoring because it’s real and it’s awesome. Everybody scissor.

Levesque: [Froese], you used to be a Hannah Montana impersonator, was that your first experience with event curation?

Froese: There will be a hint of Hannah at the next one, perhaps not me but the influence is always going to be there. And yes that would be technically my first time doing event curation.

Levesque: And how’d you get into that?

Froese: My dad saw me dress up as Hannah Montana for Halloween in grade nine. He was like, “You could make money doing that.” And I said, “That’s so stupid.” And then he booked me my first gig. I went to a six-year-old’s birthday party… There was an event planner at that gig and she got me a gig at the Second Avenue Sidewalk Sale. So what’s more embarrassing than being in grade nine and standing on a street corner dressed as Hannah Montana? Not much, but I did it. And it was on and off, I’ve never gotten paid that well hourly since, honestly. I charged 75 bucks an hour. I think the biggest issue was the constant struggle of six-year-olds not understanding the difference between Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana.

Levesque: You spent a decade in Toronto before moving back home. What advice do you have for people coming back to the prairies?

Froese: Just don’t think that you are better than anyone else. You are moving from a place where there’s a lot of opportunities, where there’s a lot of experiences. And you can take and learn as much as you want there, but when you come back you have to remember where you are, that a lot of people haven’t left [Saskatoon] and that their lived experiences are so different. You have to cater to that instead of thinking that because you’ve had this experience you are now better or know better, because in reality you don’t. You know how to operate in that city, you still have to relearn and build up where you are now.

Levesque: If you could have a lifelong free subscription to anything, what would it be?

Froese: Canva.

Levesque: Can you tell us about how Sapphic Saturdays was born?

Froese: So the first Sapphic Saturdays was hosted by Shayla Neufeld in October of 2023. She then reached out to me and had booked all of these dates at Stumbletown but didn’t have capacity to fulfill it. And [Neufeld] said, “Hey do you want to do this?” And I said, “Yeah, I guess.”

I’d had enough experience from what I’d done in Toronto that I at least kind of knew what I wanted. And so I produced my first one in April [2024] and we sold out, so that was kind of the start of it.

Levesque: What’s the process of creating and hosting these events?

Beer: We work on it every day. We don’t stop working on it. I don’t even know, it’s crazy. Basically, we kind of have everything [planned] a year in advance. Then we come up onto that event, as soon as the past event has finished we take a couple days, and then we get started on the next event. Lauren makes huge Google Sheet lists, I make huge, large-sized Post-it note lists, and we’re checking things off as we go. And we learn things from every single event that we shouldn’t do and we should do. A lot of the construction stuff we’ve left to the two weeks before. I do a lot of the tool work, Lauren does a lot of the painting when it comes to that. Yeah, there’s just so much.

Froese: Everything is part of the creative process. And I think being two creatives, it just doesn’t stop. Inspiration comes from everywhere. And we work so well together and we pivot so well together, which is part of the creative process too because we’ll have an idea that we’re 100 per cent certain on and then [Beer] might call me and be like, “Hey actually…” And it’s just immediately like pivot. It’s just such a fluid process and I think that it helps that [Beer] and I work so well together. But I think we just pull from pop culture, what seems relevant right now, but also what people have been asking for. Yeah, the ideas just don’t stop so I’ll be sad the day they run out. They may not.

Beer: In terms of hosting the event, Lauren does a lot of the front of house, I do a lot of the back of house. So I’m constantly stage managing until all performances and stage-focused things are done. And then I’ll move to the front of house and help assist up there. While I’m backstage organizing all of the artists and performances, Lauren’s in the front making sure people are okay, making sure the door’s running well. Like we had a tattoo artist at [Mock Wedding], Lauren was checking on the tattoo artist. I would check on her every once and awhile. There’s a lot of running parts but we’ve made it work really well and there’s so much we can learn. We’re constantly working on it.

Levesque: What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced with Sapphic Saturdays?

Froese: I think each one of them come with a challenge that, a lot of the times, does feel insurmountable, but we’ve just gotten so much better at pivoting. We brought in bands from Toronto for [Mock Wedding] and we learned a lot of lessons there. And I think one of the biggest challenges was just also learning how to occupy Louis’ properly. Like we’ve never booked bands until the U-Haul [event], and so that was a whole learning curve for what information we needed to get the bands and all that coming at it, not really having any idea.

Beer: Stamina, yeah, and not only self care for ourselves but self care for each other, like knowing each other’s limits and knowing when one has to step up and vice versa. And then also like, I know when Lauren’s not okay, I know the tone of voice, I know when she’s overwhelmed and I’m like, “Kay, go to bed, go binge some TV, go kayaking.” And she’ll say that for me too because I’m also operating a drag career on top of Sapphic Saturdays as well, and Lauren is very understanding of that and is also very supportive of that and also wants to push me to be the next Trixie with the trashy level of Katya. So [Froese] really steps up for me when I have a lot of bookings, and I really step up for her when she is overwhelmed and needs time, because we work really hard. And I think us being conscious of that and keeping the stamina will keep everything running and keep everything going.

Froese: Just to finish that off, like I’m always worried that [Beer] is going to burn out and I need you so badly that it is in my own best interest to make sure that doesn’t happen. So like, [Beer] is so stubborn and [she’s] such a workhorse, and I hope that when [she] hits 30, [she’ll] be like, “I should lay down.” But yeah, it’s also in my best interests and the business to make sure you don’t burn out with [her] double career situation happening here. That’s the challenge, because [she’s] stubborn, bitchass.

Levesque: What is the biggest reward you guys get from Sapphic Saturdays?

Froese: Probs our twinks.

Beer: Like I love Elena. We both have twinks, non-binary twinks, gender-fluid twinks. Non-binary/ gender-fluid twinks.

Biggest reward? It’s so fucking surreal. There’s so many people who give a flying fuck, like we’ll literally go out for a smoke break to take a five-second breather and be walking and there people are cheering. It’s like we’re not even doing anything, but thank you. I think it’s really cool that a lot of people are so appreciative and can see how much work we’ve put into it. We’ve created something [where] we want the community to thrive. We’ve created the space where we want the community to go and have an incredible time. And the fact that people see that and appreciate us is so cool. And also speaking from a personal, some could say selfish, standpoint, I work full-time as a drag queen now. Even though I’m using a power saw or we’re putting together treat bags at four in the morning, I still get to exist as Ivana while creating and producing and being at this event, and I’ve got to quit three of my part time jobs since we’ve started doing this because I’m quite literally a full time drag queen now and I’m forever thankful. Lauren is literally the heart and soul behind Sapphic Saturdays; it would be nothing without her, and I’m honoured to be a part of it and so thankful I get to be Ivana Beer full-time. So fucking cool.

Froese: Can I change my answer? This is like sincerely like my dream job and I didn’t know that this was my dream job. If you’d asked me what I wanted to do, I wouldn’t describe what I’m doing because I didn’t think it was possible. I get to do all of my favourite things and I have people who like it and people who show up, people who are excited for it. And I think that the external validation is wonderful and I’m getting better at the internal validation too. Because it’s very easy to get caught up, I run the socials and our socials are doing fairly well, but as soon as there’s a dip off, sometimes you’ll panic or whatever, but then you have people that show up and it has so much less to do with [the socials]. And people will come up and say, “You changed my life. I didn’t have any gay friends until Sapphic Saturdays. I met my partner at Sapphic Saturdays. I have never felt more myself.” And yeah, it is surreal. Surreal is the best word for it because I feel like it’s impossible to fully chew and understand, and it might be something that in 50 years we can look back on and be like, “Oh that’s what we did.” But when we’re in it, it’s so hard to process the ripple effect that it [has] because it’s bigger than we will ever know, which is really just absolutely bonkers. I get to work with my best friend and do things I love doing.

Levesque: If you guys could go back in time and change something about the event, what would it be?

Froese: I only have one answer, because everything happens for a reason and I think everything happened as a lesson to learn from, but I would get a stage for the first one and I would get lighting because that was horrific. Ivana was standing on the subwoofer performing, and I said [to Ivana], “I rented that. I’m not going to get my money back now.”. So that’s what I would do, [it’s] the only change I would make. But the lesson I learned from that was Ivana is somebody who’s not going to ask for permission; they’re going to ask for forgiveness, which is part of the cat wrangling I have to do. But it is an important lesson. They will use fire inside a distillery.

Beer: Yeah, I don’t ever ask for permission for anything. I only ask for forgiveness and it’s usually fine. Biggest regret? Yeah, obviously no regrets? Everything happens for a reason… I don’t know if I would change anything. I think ‘perfect world’, maybe we moved to Louis’ sooner. We love the venue and there were people genuinely upset that we were selling out so fast and that they couldn’t have an opportunity to come, but I don’t think we would’ve been ready if we moved any sooner. I only came on at the Scare, so the Scare and the Snowball gave us enough time to get used to each other, and then by February we were ready to do big things together. So yeah, for our beautiful sapphics, maybe move sooner so that people could experience, but now there’s plenty of room to experience.

Levesque: How do you guys keep Sapphic Saturdays a safe space for sapphics and the queer community?

Froese: I think that’s a complex question. It’s actually not even a term you will find in anything we do. I don’t think a perfect safe space even exists, I think we can continue to work towards safer spaces. I’m not going to say it happened by fluke, but I will say the original community that started this realized how important it was and worked hard amongst themselves to keep it alive knowing that community can create safety for each other. We also try to create as many feedback loops as we can within the community and build their trust by implementing as soon as possible. We message people back immediately if there’s ever any concerns, if we get any sort of criticism, constructive criticism or otherwise. We implement things immediately and people see that and then it just creates trust. So trust is the safety. We’ve also had really really hard conversations with people in our lives about who can come to Sapphic [Saturday’s]. It’s not an easy conversation to have. To have an inclusive yet exclusive space, it’s complex and very nuanced, but we have people who are having those conversations for us too because the people there understand how important it is. So we have a lot of people on our team working to have these conversations all over the place to make it as safe of a space as possible.

Beer: I agree with Lauren. Especially in this climate, no space is a safe space really, unfortunately. But we try and do everything that we can to make it as safe as possible for people. And it is tough, it is tough to try and explain to people who don't understand what we’ve created because it is an exclusive space. But we just try and communicate on all our advertisements like this is a safe space for sapphics by sapphics, if you come and you’re not a sapphic you’re going to understand that this isn’t a space for you very fast. A lot of people have met each other, you know, like a lot of relationships have been formed through our event… If you’re not a person that is sapphic that wants to participate in that, you don’t have to come. Go to Hudson’s Block Party, go to Diva’s, there’s so many bars that you can go to. This is our one event that we get to do every once in a while, just allow us to have that space. But it is really difficult and we do work really hard. Lauren does a lot of hard work and has educated me to be a more educated, smart person to try and communicate that to people the best I can, because I’m just a silly little guy that tries to just be silly but what we do is serious in the grand scheme of things. Especially in our small, little town in the middle of nowhere, we deserve to have a space to be ourselves. I’m also a new queer as well, I’ve only come out in the last few years really. I started drag and then I came out as [pansexual], and then I came out as non-binary [as Jade]. It all happened really fast within the last few years, so to have a space [that] I feel encompasses my queerness is so cool, and to be running that space is crazy as well. I just want to create space for people. They can try and come in and figure it out faster than I did.

Froese: In addition to that, the spaces we create between Sapphic Saturdays I think also help with the safety of the event too. We have those opportunities in between to create a tighter community and a tighter community is a safer space. So I think what we build up to and do in between is just as important as a Sapphic Saturdays event, it all works together in a little ecosystem.

Levesque: How do you plan to expand Sapphic Saturdays?

Froese: So it’s called the Sapphic Cinematic Universe, there’s a slide deck.

Beer: I agree.

Froese: Of course you agree. I sit down and say, “Watch my Canva presentation.”. We have a lot of ideas of what we want to do, but we are trying very hard to be strategic, very strategic, in what we do. I think there’s an aspect of throwing spaghetti at the wall, but our spaghetti we’ve cooked for seven minutes and we’re 99 per cent sure that it is going to stick to the wall. Its strategic spaghetti is what it is. So we are also secret keepers, so we’re not about to give anything right now, but the universe is expanding and hopefully will continue to expand for as long as they’ll let us and as long as we have capacity for it.

Beer: Yeah, we have at least the next year planned and we’re about to book dates at all of our venues for the next year. We’re one step ahead… We literally had one of the security people at the [Mock Wedding] event, they always work security and work for Louis’, and they were like, “We really want a country themed event and can you tell me when it is so I can book it off?” And I said, “So maybe the next one? So it might be the next one but I’m not saying anything. You should probably book it off.”. Yeah, we have so much planned but also we are being realistic of where am I going to go? My plan was to move to Toronto now, to start pumping up my drag career, but I have a beautiful career here now that is sustainable and that will help shape me to where I want to go eventually. But I also have decided that I’m going to stay here for at least another two years. I really want to keep this shit going, maybe I can be on the board? Well obviously I’ll be on the board, I’m not taking myself off this shit. Maybe I can work from home? From wherever I am, wherever Ivana takes me, I can still help and maybe fly in. We’ve talked about it and yeah, we got lots. We’re hoping to take it big.

Open floor.

Froese: The one thing I’d want to touch on; have we talked about bandanas at all? No? Okay so one thing that, on top of everything, that helps pay us is merch, obviously. But we started designing these lavender bandanas as an ode to bringing back the hanky code. So we sell them and we do a limited edition one for each [event], or least we started doing that now. Nd [the bandanas] have made it across the world. They made it to Coachella. They’ve been at the [Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque]... Made it to Scotland. So being able to create our own flag within everything is just so cool. At Pride we had a booth and I counted at least 30 to 50 people wearing our merch because we told them to. We said, “Hey, wear this to Pride,” and they were like, “Bet.”. And it’s so cool to be able to identify people with this merch and I’m very proud of the impact that the bandanas have.

Beer: I agree. I’m just a little guy trying to do crazy art and I’m so thankful that I can have a sustainable career in Saskatoon. I wouldn’t be able to do it if people didn’t give a shit, and they do, and I think that’s awesome because I don’t lay down, I just keep working. I literally am listening to songs to perform at the next show while working on [Goldstar Trivia] on my iPad while Ubering food.

Interview by: K.Levesque

LAUREN fROESE X IVANA BEER

IVANA BEER