The Eau Queer Film Festival was started in 2010 by Ellen Mahaffy and Pam Forman, who remain executive directors of the Q-Fest festival as of 2024. From 2010 to 2013, they taught an immersion course travel seminar (WMNS 422) through the Women’s Studies program at UW-Eau Claire to take students to San Francisco, California, for the Frameline International LGBTQ+ Film Festival. Students choose which films to bring back to UW-Eau Claire for the film festival held during the Fall semester. Students may also create their own films to be shown at the film festival. The San Francisco Film Festival is the longest running, largest, and most widely recognized LGBTQ+ film exhibition event in the world.

In 2013, Michael Federspiel was the festival director. In 2014, Jerrika Christianson came on as the festival director, attending two West Coast film fests, Frameline in San Francisco, California, and Outfest in Los Angeles, California. In 2014, the immersion program travel seminar was on hiatus, but picked back up again in 2015. In 2016, Christopher Jorgenson joined Mahaffy and Forman as an executive director of the festival. In 2018, the festival was led by Mahaffy, Forman, Jorgenson, as well as Kallie Friede. In 2019, the film festival rebranded, opting for the name “freaQweek” to reclaim the term “freak.” From 2020 to 2021, the festival was put on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival returned in 2022, rebranding as Q-Fest. The film festival anchors Q-Fest, but also includes a concert featuring queer artists, a half-day admissions visit for prospective LGBTQ+ students, and a National Coming Out Day celebration.