ScrapFest: Where the underground becomes the mainstream!
Prioritizing trans and underground artists.
ScrapFest: Where the underground becomes the mainstream!
Founded and curated by Canadian-Pakistani rocker/rapper Urvah Khan, ScrapFest is a grassroots music and arts festival that centers trans and underground voices. Since its inception in Canada in 2019, ScrapFest has created space for drag performers, dancers, bands, DJs, spoken word artists, and others to share their work in environments rooted in expression, community, and care.
What began as a local platform has gradually grown into a cross-border movement. In 2021, ScrapFest expanded to Pakistan, aiming to foster connection among trans and underground artists across cultural contexts. But its journey has not been without challenges.
In 2023, as the festival prepared for an event in Karachi, it became the target of a misinformation campaign led by extremist influencers and religious groups. Despite clear safety protocols and an emphasis on the well-being of performers—particularly those from Pakistan’s transgender and Khwaja Sira communities—ScrapFest was met with backlash. A provincial high court ultimately banned the festival from using public space, resulting in widespread cancellations and withdrawals by artists concerned for their safety.
Still, a small group chose to gather privately, recording powerful performances that were later shared online. These videos, captured with care and defiance, became a testament to the resilience of the community and their refusal to be erased. Later that year, a planned event in Lahore was also banned at the order of the deputy commissioner, even though it was scheduled to be held privately. Once again, ScrapFest adapted—going underground and releasing a digital showcase instead. These acts of persistence are not just performances; they are expressions of resistance, survival, and solidarity.
Pakistan’s Axing of transgender music festival shows ‘nation’ not ready to be inclusive
—Sonia Sarakar from South China Morning Post.
ScrapFest continues to collaborate with artists and organizers in both Canada and Pakistan, including through its co-production of Muslim Pride, in an effort to support inclusive, performance-based spaces across borders. Its mission remains simple but urgent: to create room for trans and underground artists to thrive—unapologetically and safely.
At its heart, ScrapFest is about community. It is shaped by the artists who show up in the face of risk, the allies who hold space, and the belief that beauty, truth, and resistance deserve platforms—no matter how underground they begin.
WATCH The banned events IN PAKISTAN HERE!
ScrapFest Banned in Karachi, Pakistan
FEBRUARY 4 2023
ScrapFest Banned in Lahore, Pakistan
DECEMBER 2 2023
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