The ultimate Brisbane celebration of LGBTQIA+ artists and allies approaches – Melt Festival’s programme is here, and it’s queer.
Melt Festival features more than 220 dazzling performances and events set to electrify Brisbane this October-November. Across the city, a vibrant playground of community, diversity, inclusivity and creative expression will come alive. . . Through massive outdoor installations, a spectacular river parade, performances, exhibitions, parties, sports events and more.
“Brisbane has never looked so much like paradise. I’ve spoken with hundreds of people about Melt and the common refrain is ‘Brisbane is growing up’,” Melt Reference Group Chair Luke Furness says.
“This programme is full of artists and performers at the top of their craft. Some are familiar, and some are very different. We have done our job if you leave these weeks laughing, cheering, crying, cringing, and (best of all) thinking. With festivals like Melt, Brisbane keeps getting better.”
Opening the festival is First Nations drag performer Miss Ellaneous (Ben Graetz), taking audiences on a journey of self-discovery, fusing storytelling, cabaret and drag, all inspired by Tina Turner in ‘Tina – A Tropical Love Story’.
You’re invited to join Ange Ponting in ‘Bad Lesbian’, as she soul-searches through banger after banger of iconic, sapphic songs with musical pal Alex Van den Broek. She’ll offer an hour of laughs, loves, lusts and longing. Then, just in time for the beloved format’s return to our screens, ‘Thank God You’re Queer’ sees LGBTQIA+ performers crafting scenes inspired by real-life experiences. Each scene features a special guest improviser, exploring queer territory for the first time.
Club Broadway: A Wicked Halloween Ball
On the festival’s first Sunday, Melt presents your chance to be part of a monumental installation of thousands of nude bodies, by New York contemporary artist Spencer Tunick.
Continuing into Sunday is the vibrant Melt Markets x Queer Slice, in The Lanes, Fortitude Valley. On the other side of town, experience queer joy with Hannah Bronte’s ‘Sunday’s Child’, a nostalgic portrait series showcasing the diverse forms of love in the LGBTQIA+ community. Rose Milo’s Erotic Art Of A Bisexual exhibition will tingle the senses and awaken desire. GGG Collective and Blaklash’s Queer Lush Deadly exhibition features queer First Nations art, a night market, performances and artist talks.
Melt is here just in time for Halloween, and what better way to celebrate than Halloween Hall, darker and more chilling than ever. . . And Club Broadway: A Wicked Halloween Ball, celebrating the iconic musical and soon-to-be major motion picture, ‘Wicked’.
Throughout week one, punters can expect the Halloween vibes to continues with ‘Halloween Cabaret’; the master of falsetto and stiletto, Leather Lungs; Scout Boxall’s dynamic mix of observational stand-up and manic, chaotic PowerPoint comedy; Brisbane Inferno’s Saturday Social Soccer; a Community Pride Netball Game; powerhouse party starters Confidence Man performing in support of their album ‘3AM (LA LA LA)’; and Bay Pride Diversity Walk at Wynnum.
Spencer Tunick installation
Then, heading into week two, you can attend a Rainbow History Class with Rudy Jean Rigg and Hannah McElhinney; cult phenomenon ‘Queer PowerPoint’ where local queer artists explore and share an idea, current obsession or ongoing fascination with Microsoft PowerPoint; Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers performing a plethora of tracks from their debut album ‘I Love You’; a night of laughs with Alex Hines and her high-energy, sharp humour; the glittering world of cabaret and disco with ‘Hans: Disco Spektakular!’; the ghostly mystery of ‘Slippery’, a play by Esther Dougherty delving into betrayal, ecstasy and murder; ‘Functional Bottom’ directed by Anna Piper Scott, a darkly humorous exploration fusing storytelling, performance art, filth, provocation and tears; and Demon Rhythm. . . An exhibition project by Micah Rustichelli, who had their artworks used to train an AI generator to imitate their work.
Closing things out is the Pride Picnic, a family-friendly community event at Southbank, and The River Pride Parade where a colourful flotilla will journey from William Jolly Bridge to Brisbane Powerhouse, led by Melt Ambassador Courtney Act.
Then, head to A Day On The Green for an afternoon of Take That, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Ricki-Lee.
Queer screenings will feature throughout Melt at Dendy Powerhouse too.
Tickets are on sale now.
Melt Festival in Brisbane is on from 23 October-10 November.
This story originally appeared on our queer sister site, FROOTY.
