What to see at Midsumma Festival 2025

Where: Arts Centre Melbourne

When: Feb 4-9

The undisputed queen of Ireland, Panti Bliss – aka Rory O’Neill – is so much more than just one of the world’s most instantly recognisable drag stars. A passionate warrior for queer rights, she led the charge for marriage equality at home and champions causes worldwide. So when she shows up for Midsumma madness, expect sassy stories of a life well-lived delivered with fire in her belly, chuckles in ours and maybe a few teary eyes.

Where: Guild Theatre

When: Feb 3-6

You can’t keep the irrepressible Milo Hartill down. She’s a triple threat and more who can act, sing, dance, chuck shade and save Christmas. Slaaay-bell-ringing in the new year with her five-star solo show, she retunes Frank Sinatra’s crooning, doing spins on everyone from Nina Simone to Mousse T her way, accompanied by Lucy O’Brien’s tinkling piano. Bow down when Hartill tells you that, “Being black, fat and queer is fucking joyous.”

Where: Cinema Nova

When: Jan 31-Feb 2

If baking in the summer sun is not your idea of fun, then hasten to the welcome shade of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival’s summer showcase. Carlton’s local hero Cinema Nova hosts most movies, with a handful of events at Bunjil Place in Narre Warren and the Fed Square screen. The tastily curated program includes Athens-set doco Avant-Drag!, steamy romance in Finnish lesbian drama Light Light Light and saucy Brazilian dish Perfect Endings, plus retrospective gold like Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers, the deliriously fun musical featuring Warhol-era trans superstar Holly Woodlawn.

Where: Abbotsford Convent

When: Jan 23-25

First Nations femme queer joy is represented in a triptych of exhilarating dance works choreographed by Gamilaroi woman Amelia J O’Leary. Staged in the stunning surrounds of the Abbotsford Convent’s Oratory hall, Ngambaa ‘Mother’, Winangaylanha ngaya nginunha ‘I love you’ and the duet that lends its name to the show mesmerise. O’Leary is joined on the floor by fellow dancers including Githabul, Migunberri woman Keia McGrady, pop star Emily Earther and Ode to Being creator Carmen Yih. Also at the convent, check out Ari Angkasa’s open-air film/theatre fusion Medium.

Where: Arts Centre Melbourne

When: Jan 14-Feb 1

British actor Samuel Barnett made waves with his breakthrough role in Alan Bennett’s original London production of The History Boys in 2004, encoring Posner in the big screen adaptation. With Tony and Olivier Award nominations to his name, he’s a rinky-dink star, so snap up tickets to this shriek-laugh-inducing dark comedy from the team that brought us Baby Reindeer and Fleabag, in which a neurotic comedian reconsiders the Mr perfect he’s just fallen head over heels for. 

Where: Fortyfivedownstairs

When: Feb 6-9

We love a powerful queer collab, and they don’t come much mightier than this team-up between Queerstories, the LGBTQIA+ storytelling event, and six-person choir Divisi. The latter elevate emerging queer composers, pairing them with out and proud writers fielded by Queerstories’ Maeve Marsden – including poet Omar Sakr and woodworking filmmaker and photographer Liz Duck-Chong – setting their truths, sung by the Divisi ensemble, to sublime music.

Where: The Round

When: Jan 31

When Reuben Kaye is hosting a one-night-only cabaret spectacular, you get there by hook or by crook. With his speed butt-dialled bestie Rhys Nicholson on call, too, plus they’ve summoned gender-euphoric angel Mama Alto (also appearing in De-Flowered at Chapel off Chapel) out of the twinkling firmament alongside fellow sparkling saboteurs of prissily prim propriety. This night will surely bring the rainbow. 

Where: Pride of our Footscray Community Bar

When: Jan 21-25

Calling all Eurovision stans (so most of the gorgeously overlapping queer communities), you will not want to miss Icelandic superstar Hera Björk who swung into the 2010 Song Contest with her international boundaries-be-damned fan fave ditty ‘Je ne Sais Quoi’ – not be confused with our Kylie’s French ram raid ‘Je ne Sais Pas Pourquoi’ – and headed back again this year with ‘Scared of Heights’. Sure to be a pure poptastic cavalcade of unfettered camp, you’ll want to bow down to Mother.

Where: Victorian Pride Centre

When: Jan 20-Feb 8

There are so many awesome exhibitions during Midsumma that it was impossible to choose, with highlights including Iraqi-Australian artist Ara Dolation’s At the First Flood of Daylight, and the 100-strong group show Souls at Fitzroy’s Sol Gallery. But we were tickled pink by Gender Fluids, with the Huxleys transforming St Kilda’s Pride Centre into a multi-disciplinary tribute to the magnificently binary-blurring sea creatures who have always known gender has no boundaries.

Where: Fortyfivedownstairs

When: Jan 21-Feb 2

Excellent intimacy coordinator Bayley Turner has worked tirelessly on everything from iconic Australian soap Neighbours to massive theatre productions like Hamilton. Now you can see her take centre stage in this powerhouse one-woman play she co-wrote with fellow trans hero Jo Clifford (The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven). Directed by Kitan Petkovski, it offers an intergenerational insight into the trials and the triumphs of embracing yourself in this wild world.

Where: Gasworks Arts Park

When: Feb 5-8 

Circus has always been subversively queer, rolling into town with a cadre of colourful characters and then leaving hearts a-flutter. Feminist-fired heroes the Women’s Circus take that vibe to the next level,  stomping over age barriers as they field their queer elders in this transgressively optimistic work of gravity-defying acrobatics, spoken word poetry and live music. Also check out the raunchy ribaldry of Tender.