Midsumma Festival

Carnival crowd at Alexandra Garden

Midsumma Festival is an annual celebration of queer culture. Held during January and February in Melbourne, Australia, the festival began as a one week celebration of gay pride in 1989. The festival has expanded over the years to what is now a three week event that now attracts over 80,000 individuals participating in, and attending, Midsumma events.^{[citation needed]}

Midsumma Festival is considered a major event by Tourism Victoria and the City of Melbourne, with both government agencies providing funds to aspects of the festival delivery. The festival has in the past been identified globally as one of the top five gay and lesbian arts and cultural celebrations, along with New York, San Francisco, Vancouver and Sydney.

Previous events have included what at the time was Australia’s only gay short play competition, Pink Shorts, a collaborative project engaging theatre veterans and drama newcomers to bring new short works to the Melbourne stage (see more later). Summa Cabaret which featured Hugh Jackman, Geraldine Turner, and the ensembles Combo Fiasco and The Great Big Opera Company.

The festival, has since 2008 opened with Carnival on the middle Sunday of January. Carnival is a day-long celebration in the City of Melbourne providing access to both Queer and Mainstream communities to picnic with family and friends, view entertainment that forms part of the coming 3 week festival, as well as engage with community and commercial organisation by browsing the stallholders. The festivities continue into the night with T Dance - an outdoor dance party – featuring some of Melbourne’s and Australia’s most popular DJs.

Midsumma’s visual arts program features a range of exhibitions in and around Melbourne from emerging & established local, national and international gay artists. Yarra Arts and Queer City play home to many of the exhibitions.

The festival’s performing arts program includes a range of musicals, theatre, cabaret, film, spoken word, music events and dance parties. These performing arts events are largely produced by the community.

Carnival

Traditionally held in Alexandra Gardens with stalls, food, and main stage of showcase entertainment taking place through the commitment of Midsumma’s principal partner, the City of Melbourne, the event relocated to Birrarung Marr in 2011. The main stage since 2009 at least, has included a selection of entertainment from the coming festival program in order to showcase and promote the coming events to community and interested visited. Some recent community and arts and entertainment identities to have performed include: Luke Gallagher and Dolly Diamond, Anthony Manchetti, Hannah Gadsby and Adam Richard, as well as popular Drag Production Show "The Classics".

Duclie’s Dog Show has long been a Midsumma Carnival institution, providing an hilarious high camp, fun and frivolous few hours where community members show their dogs, with categories including “cutest bitch” and “best owner and dog combo”.^{[citation needed]}

T Dance

The day is always brought to a close with the T Dance, Midsumma’s dance party under the stars. Artists who have recently performed at T Dance include Trevor Ashley, Ricki-Lee, Paul Heron, Inaya Day, and the Divine Knights.

Queer City

Queer City is the collaboration between City of Melbourne, Arts Victoria, Midsumma, and local galleries and artists from the queer community. In 2012 the Queer City was focussed around 1000 Pound Bend Gallery and performance venue, in Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne along with City Library which has regularly been part of the festival between 2008 and 2012, and a new, tiny exhibition space known as Mailbox 141, which is the old glass and wooden mailboxes of 141 Flinders Lane, that have been converted into a small art exhibition space.

Recent years (2010 or 11) a breathtaking exhibition of Vivien St James’ work, a celebration of fluid or ‘unstable’ gender at Platform Space, as well as exhibitions at Guilford Lane Gallery and fortyfive downstairs.

Re/Gendered brings together a number of high profile international and Australian artists in a group exhibition that celebrates the notion of fluid or 'unstable' gender, striving to transgress and blur the boundaries of gender performance.^{[citation needed]}

Queer City will launch on Monday 18 January at City Library before moving to fortyfive downstairs and ending with the after-party at Loop Bar and includes many more exhibits exploring and celebrating gay culture.

Pink Shorts

Most recently held as a component of the Queer City Program, within the City of Melbourne, Pink Shorts originated (date to be added).

Pinks Shorts details to be added.

Yarra Arts

Yarra Arts is the collaboration between the City of Yarra, Arts Victoria, Midsumma, local galleries and artists from the queer community, featuring an exclusive premier event from T.J. Bateson, a magnificent group show, TransMasculinities, which explores aspects of gender, as well as a range of work at 69 Smith Street.

T.J.Bateson’s new body of work, Veiled In Plain Sight, has been made specifically for Midsumma and the relaunch of Tacit Contemporary Art in Abbotsford.

Off the back of Transmen Translated in 2008, artist and curator Jesslyn Moss presents TransMasculinities, a major Midsumma group show featuring photography, painting, drawing and video by eight artists from Australia, the UK and the United States.

This exhibition explores new models of masculinity and offers a rare insight into the physical and psychological aspects of transgender butch, gender queer and transmasculine experiences, and is shown at Red Gallery.

69 Smith Street will feature work from Benja, Mark Bareald, Gary Campbell, J. Kristensen, Piepke, Mel Simpson and Rat Simpson which includes concepts ranging from identity, relationship and material assumptions through photography, and even playful work which portrays women’s relationships with each other and the open road.

Yarra Arts is launched on Wednesday 20 January at 69 Smith Street Gallery.

Registered Events

The large majority of Midsumma Festival events are within the registered events program. That is, they are created, produced and funded by independant third parties who pay fees for inclusion in the Midsumma Festival each year.

In 2012 it is believed that there were approximately 160 events.

Past Midsumma Festivals

2012 from 15 January until February 5.

2011 from 16 January until February 6.

Midsumma Boards and Management

Midsumma Festival Inc. is an incorporated association in accordance with the The current Chair of Midsumma Festival is Lisa Watts The current board of Midsumma Festival includes: Dr. Jane Daniels, Rodney George, Dean Hamood (Treasurer), Aaron Hockly, Rachel "Rat" Simpson, Kate Wickett. Mark Latchford resigned in March 2012. The current CEO of Midsumma Festival is Adam J Lowe The current Festival Administrator is Monique Thorpe.

2011 Chair: Lisa Watts, Board: General Manager: Adam J Lowe 2010 Chair: Lisa Watts, Board: General Manager: Adam J Lowe 2009 Chair: Lisa Watts, Board: General Manager: Adam J Lowe 2008 Chair: Lisa Watts, Board: General Manager: Jarrod Hughes Festival Administrator: Molly Whelan 2007 General Manager: Jarrod Hughes Festival Administrator: Molly Whelan

See also

• List of LGBT events

External links

• Midsumma website

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