Photographer Juniper “Junie” Johnson offers $15 portraits to market attendees.
Photo courtesy of Amanda N. Rivas
By Julia Ferrara
Under a setting sun and bubble-filled skies, you’ll find people decorating the sidewalk with chalk drawings, local purveyors selling their creations and bands blasting jams to an attentive and lively crowd.
A fierce celebration of identity and culture, and hosted by Queer Expressions St. Pete, Futurity is a monthly market that brings the community together in recognition of queer, Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC).
The name for the market, “Futurity” is a reference to the book “Cruising Utopia: The When and Where of Queer Futurity” by José Esteban Muñoz. The book explores how the identities and experiences of the queer community can contribute to envisioning alternative and more inclusive futures.
Futurity started as a pop-up market in 2023 and was initially facilitated by the founding organizers of Queer Expression St. Pete.
This year, the market is presented by two University of South Florida St. Petersburg students, Kaylen Sifon, a senior digital communications and multimedia journalism major and Heidi Hicks, a senior graphic design major. They both decided to bring it back for the 2025 season after helping the original organizers in 2024.
“This is the first market and first event of its scale that Kaylen and I have organized as individuals,” Hicks said. “It’s been so rewarding to see the people we have been able to bring together by working collaboratively and leaning on the rest of the QE community for help when needed.”
What differentiates Futurity from other pop-up markets around the city is its decision not to have any vendor fees for BIPOC artists and artisans. The market also provides a stipend for each BIPOC performer.
“No other market in this area is catered towards Black and brown creatives,” Sifon said. “It’s such a special thing that was created, and it’s amazing to see it come to life as a Black artist myself.”
Photo courtesy of Amanda N. Rivas
Sifon shared that they started working with the market in 2023 as a photographer and had never coordinated an event, especially one of this size.
She decided to run the pop-up this year because previous organizers struggled to find the time with all the other projects they were working on for their community.
“I didn’t want the market that I love so much to disappear, so Heidi and I stepped up,” Sifon said.
Every month, the market has a different theme. The first one in March was themed “funk-it” and encouraged attendees to come in colorful, groovy get-ups and featured neo-soul and contemporary R&B bands.
The second market, which was held on April 25 was old Hollywood themed and encourage attendees to show up in black and white attire.
“No two Futurity pop-ups are the same, so community members can expect a new experience and new vendors each time,” Hicks said.
For more information about the market and to see the full list of vendors, visit their Instagram (@futuritypopup).
