3000 Lesbians Go To York (2025)

A documentary that tells the extraordinary true story of how a lesbian bookseller (who also happened to be trans) created the largest gathering of LGBTQ+ women in the UK, and how from 1998 to 2008, the quietly conservative city of York became the unlikely centre of all things lesbian! For one thrilling decade, thousands of women flocked to the York Lesbian Arts Festival (YLAF) each autumn, to meet their favourite authors, buy books, hear top female artists live on stage and dance the night away at the ‘disco of a thousand lesbians.’

Director Biography - Rachel Dax

Director Biography - Rachel Dax

Rachel Dax is an award-winning Writer, Director and Producer of Film and Audio Drama, as well as a Novelist and a University Lecturer.

After many years making short films (including Time & Again starring Dame Siân Phillips and Brigit Forsyth which won at OUTFEST Hollywood and was acquired by the BBC) Rachel moved into making feature length documentaries.

Her 2024 film Greer Ralston - Giving It All To Art is currently playing at festivals worldwide and will be broadcast by BBC Scotland in the autumn, after which it will be available on BBC iPlayer for two years.

During 2024/25, Rachel has collaborated as the Director and Co-Producer of 3000 Lesbians Go To York – a fascinating documentary about the York Lesbian Arts Festival which ran between 1998-2008. This film has already been accepted into an array of festivals across the globe.

Director Statement

In my work as a creative, I endeavour to use Film, Audio Drama and Literature as a method to explore and disseminate knowledge about LGBTQ+ lives, identities, histories and cultures. Therefore, when I was approached by Lesbian Historian Jane Traies to make this project, I agreed straightaway. Women, and particularly lesbians, have been consistently written out of and ignored by mainstream History, so in recent years, the lesbians have taken it upon themselves to ensure that they are written back in. By documenting the York Lesbian Arts Festival, I know I am contributing to a lasting record of its success, meaning and memory and I am proud to be a part of it.

Please tell us your motivation for making your film:

To ensure that such an iconic event in lesbian fiction and music history does not forgotten.

What are the themes and central messages you wanted to convey with your submission?:

That lesbian history is important and lesbian stories should be told.

Credits:

Rachel Dax

Director

Rachel Dax

Producer

Jane Traies

Producer

Kate O'Dwyer

Producer

Jane Traies

Interviewer

Specs:

Project Type:

Documentary, Feature

Runtime:

1 hour 7 minutes 45 seconds

Completion Date:

July 8, 2025

Production Budget:

15,000 GBP

Country of Origin:

United Kingdom

Country of Filming:

United Kingdom

Language:

English

Shooting Format:

Digital

Aspect Ratio:

16:9

Film Color:

Color

First-time Filmmaker:

No

Student Project:

No

Director