The UK’s longest-running LGBTQ+ arts festival is returning to Liverpool.
Homotopia will take over the city for three weeks as it celebrates its 20th anniversary - with a focus on queer history and heritage this time around. This year’s festival, themed Gods and Monsters, will see a range of “cutting-edge” entertainment from visual arts to theatre, live music and performances.
For 2023, Homotopia is asking visitors to consider how to “foster a sense of community and mutual care in the face of an increasingly intolerant society - and how to build a space of love and respect for those within the LGBTQ+ community who are often most demonised within the mainstream”.
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Festival programmer Alice Holland said: “The opportunity to curate the 20th edition of Homotopia is a huge privilege, and as a newcomer to Liverpool it has been incredible to learn the city through meeting the festival’s networks, audiences and supporters.
“My hope for this programme is that we find new ways of being together, of being there for each other, and enjoying a glittery, gorgeous giggle before hibernation season kicks in.
“There will be some festival favourites of course, but we have also tried to open up new spaces for queer work and community, to make the most of Homotopia’s status as a beloved child of the city. I can’t wait to see what the next 20 years of queer culture will look like here.”
Founded in 2003, the Liverpool-based arts and social justice organisation is driven to make a cultural impact through art and activism by supporting and platforming LGBTQ+ socially engaged artists and creatives. Every November they present Homotopia Festival, featuring a variety of art across multiple venues and outdoor spaces in the city.
The festival will kick off on Saturday, November 11 with Clash of the Titans at Content at Cain’s Brewery Village. The event will see wrestlers and queer cabaret Fist Club combine the art of comedy, drag performance and hard-hitting live wrestling for the opening party.
Other highlights to watch out over the Homotopia season include avant-garde cabaret artist David Hoyle as he brings his live show, The Ten Commandments, to Unity Theatre on Friday, November 17. The live experience is said to be where dark comedy meets “righteous” anger and queer revolution.
Moreso, artist and activist Liv Wynter will present How to Catch a Pig on Tuesday, November 14 - a celebration of creatives who organise against the state, with a focus on queer and trans performers. Liverpool fixtures EAT ME will bring “fantasy, sin and pleasure” to the hallowed surroundings of the Williamson Tunnels for a weekend of club nights, art and theatre with the EAT ME Weekender.
The Liverpool ECHO will be bringing you more on the full list of Homotopia 2023’s events and activities.
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