Midsumma Festival at Fed Square

M: Mature themes, drug use, sex scene and frequent coarse language

Pull up a deckchair as the sun sets at Fed Square to enjoy the barnstorming, musical fantasy biopic Rocketman.

Set to his most beloved songs, it’s the epic musical story of Elton John, his breakthrough years in the 1970s and his fantastical transformation from shy piano prodigy to international superstar.

That’s KAMP! is a collaboration between Dr Brent Greene from RMIT, RMIT landscape architecture students, Celebrate Ageing, and members of Melbourne’s Queer community. In collaboration with the project team, the designers explore experiences such as the loss of liberty, bodily integrity, rights, family and friends through ecological and memorial design. The exhibited designs have the broader aim of giving LGBTIQ+ people permission to acknowledge grief and loss; to connect them to spiritual aspects of grief; and to promote PRIDE by acknowledging what/whom has been lost.

Free to attend.

Bring your alter ego to life with queer, Persian artist Sammaneh Pourshafighi. With a background in photography, collage and performance Sammaneh will guide participants through a hands-on workshop experimenting and developing of their own alter ego. Using props, art materials, make up, and wigs, participants are encouraged to express their larger than life alter egos culminating in the collaborative production of their own photographic portraits.

Materials provided but participants are also encouraged to bring along their own costumes, make up, props or other materials.

*This hands-on workshop may involve people assisting with styling and application of cosmetic products. Let us know if you have any allergies and request alternative items.

Free to attend.

Queer disabled artists unpack community, connection, identity and arts practise.

Panelists with lived experience of deafness, disability, neurodiversity and chronic illness will explore their experiences of queer joy and gathering through the lens of their diverse arts practices and community engagement.

Panellists: Akii Ngo, Caroline Bowditch, Alistair Baldwin, Patrick Gunasekera and Jamila Main.

This panel have been programmed in collaboration with the Midsumma Pathways Advisory Group.

Free to register.

Presented by Midsumma Festival and Fed Square

Singing our stories, loud and proud.

Works for voices and strings inspired by intergenerational conversations between queer Victorian composers and seniors. This is emotional, powerful storytelling; maintaining our shared cultural queer history through music, humour, and a healthy dose of shared outrage.

Performed by Miranda Hill, The Consort of Melbourne and the Homophonic! String Quintet.

“The love in the room is unequivocal and the result is pure harmony.” — Stage Whispers

Free to register.

A lively panel discussion on strengthening voices, practice and collaboration of LGBTQIA+ artists

Presented by Margherita Coppolino and featuring panelists: Luz Elena Aranda, Karen Bryant, Daniel X. Harris, Amy Middleton and Daniel Santangeli.

Free to register.