Midsumma Festival 2026: queer culture highlights to pop on your calendar

Melbourne's leading LGBTQIA+ pride festival puts queer art in the spotlight  – here are our top picks
Midsumma Festival 2026 highlights.

It’s time to roll out the rainbow carpet! Midsumma Festival is back, back, back again and ready to paint the town with 22 days of sun-kissed queer joy from 18 January to 8 February.

Before the famous Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras kicks off in February, Melbourne’s own massive celebration of LGBTQIA+ community, arts and culture leads the charge with a packed program of over 200 events across more than 150 venues across Victoria. 

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Alannah Sue (she/her) is a journalist, writer and theatre critic with a passion for arts and culture and all that glitters. She joined the Creative Hubs Group team as Senior Arts & Screen Journalist after relocating to Melbourne in 2025. She previously served as Arts & Culture Editor at Time Out Sydney and contributes to various publications. She is always keen to take a chance on weird performance art, theatre of all kinds, out-of-the-box exhibitions, queer venues, and cheap Prosecco. Give her half a chance, and she will get on a soapbox when it comes to topics like the magic of musical theatre, the importance of rigorous arts criticism, and the global cultural implications of the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise. Got a pitch for Alannah? Send an email to: [email protected]