Melt Festival 2022

Overview

Murdering some dance floors should be on every Brisbanite's must-do list this November. That's just what you do when Sophie Ellis-Bextor comes to town to headline this year's Melt Festival. Also on the festival's full bill alongside the British singer: a Queensland-exclusive show by Big Freedia, who you'll know from Beyoncé's 'Formation' and 'Break My Soul', plus Jesswar and JessB.

They'll have a heap of company between Thursday, November 10–Sunday, November 27, too, including Shane Jenek, Polytoxic, Brendan Maclean, festival artist-in-residence Dylan Mooney and a Cher-inspired cabaret by Larissa McGowan.

As overseen by Festival Curator Daniel Evans, the 18-day fest will welcome Jenek – aka Courtney Act — to chat about his memoir Caught in The Act. Yes, expect his stint on RuPaul's Drag Race season six to get a mention. Meanwhile, McGowan's solo show Cher includes contemporary dance, chameleonic displays, and a pop culture-fuelled exploration of gender and power.

Polytoxic's In Your Dreams will enjoy its world premiere at the fest, heroing genderqueer and intersectional artists, and performed as an awards ceremony for the future. As for Maclean, he's bringing his solo show Alone At Last! to Brisbane after its successful debut season at Adelaide Cabaret Festival. And Yuwi, Torres Strait and South Sea Islander man Mooney will continue his impressive recent run of exhibitions, spreading his art across multiple Brisbane Powerhouse spaces and surfaces.

Also a highlight: Meltdown, a night of tech house beats from Soul of Detroit featuring John 'Jammin' Collins of Underground Resistance, Sophie Forrest and DJ Enn, as curated by Joel Devereux. It'll also span installations, guest appearances, drag acts and performances, aka one helluva party.

There's the Melt Comedy Gala, too, which'll be hosted by Mel Buttle and feature New Zealand comic Chris Parker; Queerstories making a comeback, complete with Benjamin Law among its LGBTQIA+ storytellers; and the similarly returning Lesbian Love Stories.

Both the LGBTQIA+ Elders Dance Club hosted by All the Queens Men, and Backbone Youth Arts' Revel in the Queer, will be free to attend — with a huge focus on providing uplifting and safe spaces for queer culture.

Keep an eye out for The Good Room's The Chapel of Love, which'll build a chapel — yes, really — on Brisbane Powerhouse's Turbine Platform (taking inspiration from everything from Dolly Parton to Hallmark and Vegas' neon dreams, naturally).

Some Melt events will make use of Brisbane Powerhouse's new Pleasuredome, an outdoor venue that's set to join the New Farm site.

Dylan Evans