Naughty fun for grownups: NY group pulls off another sexy Rochester Erotic Arts Festival

The Rochester Erotic Arts Festival leaned on glamour, the arts, athletic feats and a safe environment for public sharing at REAF 2024 recently, a convention weekend for adults. Sex, fetish and "taboo" topics were on the menu, of course. And nudity.

REAF was born years ago out of a desire to see people have a forum to be their authentic selves, organizers said. The annual event was hosted in Rochester for a long time, but moved out to a hotel in Auburn and will stay there.

It is a hard ticket to come by. The passes go on sale in January and the hotel rooms sell out in under 7 minutes. REAF's convention is a complete hotel takeover, all indoors, and the hotel staff was enjoying themselves.

"I ask to work it every year," said one front desk clerk. "The people are wonderful."

As a newcomer, I learned many new things from a workshop about impact play and communication between partners. The fashion show, the outfits, the art and the items on sale were a blast of color, sound and titillation.

The crowd was diverse and seemed ecstatic to be there.

Aerial feats of edgy performance at Rochester sex festival

A huge draw during the daylight and early evening hours was the main stage by the pool. There were dance performers, a fashion show of artistic knotted ropes worn as clothing and some humor from the emcees. REAF attendees watched from interior balconies adorned with colorful banners celebrating different kinds of pride.

I'll leave many of the details out of this news article. The event is for responsible adults. What happens after the evenings grow late isn't part of the convention — it's just private partying.

Sex, kink, BDSM convention for Rochester is a popular ticket

REAF was created as a New York State non-profit in 2009 by Susie Scott and Rauncie Reynolds. I spoke by phone with Scott and her husband, Otter, after the event to learn more.

"We were sold out at 750 attendees plus 170 artists, performers, presenters and vendors," Scott said. "We skipped 2011 and then missed 2020 due to COVID, so this was #14. Our ages range from 18 to 80+ (I'd say most are in their 20s to 50s)."

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What was the motivation for a western NY erotic festival?

"Well, we felt that there was definitely a missing piece in the art world and just in people's lives of not being able to talk outwardly or celebrate sexuality outwardly and so we wanted to have an event that would be a classy way of celebrating sexuality. Without shame.

"We're in the 21st century and it's amazing how uptight some people can still be."

"We have a lot of people who are not involved in a (fetish) community and those newcomers are really one of our core audiences — we are trying to get information out to people who do not have that access and don't know where to start or where to look for information."

"We have people who are over 80 years old who have come and said this was on their bucket list."

What goes on at the actual hotel convention for the erotic fest?

"From day one, the idea is you can be sexual, you can even be deviant, but you can do it with class and without a sense of malice or harm or a hidden agenda. And so what REAF is during the daylight hours is exactly that. It's a safe, sane, consensual experience. You can see art, you can watch performers, you can attend workshops.

"And just like any hotel, what goes on after the event is over, that's between consenting adults."

• The next REAF will be in April 2025 at the Holiday Inn Auburn. Ticket sales and hotel rooms open mid-January through the web site (no tickets at the door).

• People come in from Texas, Washington State, Ohio, New England, New Jersey, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, California, Canada and more.

• Attendees can be topless inside the hotel and there is a nude swim.

This reporter left before it got late, so what happens in the dungeon stays in the dungeon.

— William Ramsey is an editor at the Democrat and Chronicle.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Erotic Arts Festival: NY group pulls off another sexy event