Midsumma Festival 2023

The 34th edition of Victoria's major LGBTQIA+ arts and cultural fest is here to heat up your summer.
Libby Curran
January 06, 2023

Overview

Iconic LGBTQIA+ arts and cultural celebration Midsumma Festival will serve up good vibes in abundance when it returns for its 34th edition from Saturday, January 21–Sunday, February 12. Featuring more than 200 events across eight major festival hubs and many more smaller venues, it's set to deliver a jam-packed offering of live music, performances, exhibitions, theatre, visual arts, cabaret, parties and more — all championing queer arts and culture.

It kicks off on January 22 with the legendary Midsumma Carnival at Alexandra Gardens, before the Midsumma Pride March descends on Fitzroy Street for its annual roving celebration on February 5, and the full-day Victoria's Pride fiesta wraps things up on February 12.

Making its debut is A Safe(R) Space — a program of works unpacking the concept of the 'safe space', and what that means for different artists and creatives. Meanwhile, Midsumma Presents is back with another curated lineup championing the unheard voices of this era's queer intersectional communities. It'll include theatre works, a Nocturnal dance party and lots more in between.

Elsewhere, comedian Joel Creasey and RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under legend Kween Kong will hit the Sidney Myer Music Bowl for the star-studded fiesta that is Midsumma Extravaganza, joined by names like Nina Oyama, Rhys Nicholson, Courtney Act and Kira Puru.

The Victorian Pride Centre will host a swag of happenings as a new festival hub — from a free exhibition delving into Victoria's LGBTQIA+ history and the creation of the centre itself, to a gender-diverse clothes swap and pop-up piano bar.

Highlights across the other hubs include a First Nations drag festival, a citywide collection of interactive installations for Midsumma x Ignite Melbourne, rope bondage workshops, cabarets about composting, dance-friendly al fresco gigs, a stacked program of performances, and much, much more.

Midsumma Extravaganza by Suzanne Balding

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