Midsumma Festival will return to Victoria from 18 January to 8 February, bringing more than 200 events to over 150 venues statewide. The long-running celebration of LGBTQIA+ arts and culture once again places lived experience at the centre, inviting audiences to explore work that spans performance, visual art, literature, family events and late-night happenings.
This year’s theme, Time and Place, sets the tone for the program, encouraging reflection on history, identity and the shifting realities faced by queer communities today.
Time speaks to urgency and the legacy of hard-won progress, while place highlights the significance of gathering on First Peoples’ land and the spaces reclaimed as sites of expression and safety.
“We are living at a unique and pivotal moment in history, a time of shifting sands… the need to connect through shared humanity has never been more urgent,” says Karen Bryant, CEO and Creative Director of Midsumma.
Carnival will open the festival on 18 January, with Pride March following on 14 February and Victoria’s Pride closing out the season on 8 February.
Theatre and storytelling remain a strong foundation, led by works like The Placeholder, a sharp and deeply human regional drama, and From Grindr to Blindr, where Karan Nagrani blends humour and vulnerability to share life as a blind gay man of colour. Garabari brings audiences into a contemporary corroboree, merging Wiradjuri song with electronic sound in an immersive dance gathering.
The program expands further with Tom Ballard’s playful take on queer political mythmaking, the powerhouse cabaret Black, Fat and F**gy, and Sugar, a theatrical look at the world of a sugar baby. New voices shine through works like Much to do with Law, but more to do with Love, while younger audiences are invited into sensory artworks such as Love Love Love Love Love Love and events like Minus18’s Night at the Museum.
With exhibitions including Diva at Arts Centre Melbourne and Beyond the Binary at NGV International, plus accessible events like Amplio Rocks!, Midsumma continues to shape a vivid snapshot of queer creativity and community across Victoria. Explore the full program at midsumma.org.au.
