Queer Festivals, Markets and Conventions to Visit in The UK
- Proud Geek
- Jul 1
- 10 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Pride season may be over, but there's still a load of LGBTQ+ festivals and events happening across the rest of the calendar year. Whether it's film festivals, queer markets, live theatre or art exhibits, there's something for everyone - so here's our list of queer festivals and markets happening around the UK, this year and beyond.
Shout Festival - Birmingham - Ongoing
Queer Art & Performance Festival
SHOUT is Birmingham’s creative programme that celebrates queer art & culture year-round across the city. It used to be an annual festival, taking place every November, but they now hold events celebrating LGBTQ+ artists and communities across the Midlands throughout the year - there's theatre, comedy, drag shows, workshops, exhibitions, voguing balls and a whole bunch more.
Find out more about upcoming events at https://shoutfestival.co.uk
BFI Flare Festival - London - March
Queer Film Festival
Formerly known as the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (LLGFF), BFI Flare is the largest LGBTQ+ film festival in Europe. It takes place every spring in London, England. Organised and run by the British Film Institute, all BFI Flare screenings take place in the BFI Southbank with tickets starting at £5.
You can get tickets to screenings at https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/flare
Big Gay Market - Glasgow - Biannually
Queer Market
Currently Scotland's biggest queer-led market, Big Gay Market runs twice a year, once in summer and once in winter. They offer a safe and accessible space, showcasing local LGBTQ+ artists and traders - so you'll find plenty of queer art, crafts, prints, jewellery, clothing and more. They also provide a quiet hour to shop with no music, smaller crowds and less noise for the first hour. Entry is only £1 with the option to donate more if you wish to help run future BGM events.
You can find out more at @biggaymarket.gla
Queer Bloomsbury - Lewes - August
Queer Art & Philosophy Festival
Queer Bloomsbury celebrates contemporary queer identities, politics and desires. This year it takes place on Saturday 15th August, bringing together emerging and established voices from across the LGBTQ+ community, challenging the status quo and imagining new ways of living - just like the Bloomsbury group did a century ago. The lineup is always fab, the parties are really fun and there are some amazing keynote speakers and performers involved this year. You can find out more on their website here: https://www.charleston.org.uk/festival/queer-bloomsbury-2026/
Outburst Arts Festival - Belfast - November
Queer Arts Festival
Outburst is a nine-day international art festival in Belfast that showcases the best in new queer performance, literature, film, music, digital creativity, dance and visual arts. It’s a sharing point for artists, thinkers and participants with events including opera, art markets, theatre, film and workshops.
Check out upcoming events at this year's festival here: https://outburstarts.com/
Body Movements - London - August
Queer Dance & Art Festival
Body Movements is a London-based queer dance festival that celebrates queer bodies in club culture and has a focus on electronic music. From their roots as a DIY, radical queer gathering, sprawling across 15 spaces in Hackney Wick, Body Movements is now an open-air day festival amongst the trees of Southwark park. Tickets start at £20 (plus booking fee)
Take a look at this year's lineup here: https://bodymovements.co.uk/
Pride Comic Art Festival - Bristol - September
Queer Comic & Art Festival
Pride Comic Art Festival (PRIDE CAF) gives LGBTQA+ artists, writers and creators a place to exhibit and sell their work, and for the general public to discover new comics, zines, art and stories. It's a one-day event and usually includes talks throughout the day, along with workshops to help inspire creativity. This event is FREE and open to all ages.
Why not get involved in PRIDE CAF by visiting their website here: https://pridecaf.co.uk/
Queer Spirit - Devon - August
Queer Spirituality Festival
Queer Spirit Festival is a non-profit, grassroots community event, run by volunteers, celebrating the creative, magical spirit of LGBTQ+ people. Relax, play and make new friends, absorb the healing energy of nature, share your stories and explore new ideas and practices. The four-day camping festival includes performances, traders, healing workshops, sharing circles and therapy, as well as live music and performances.
Learn more about Queer Spirit here: https://queerspirit.net/
Student Pride - London - February
Queer Youth Festival
National Student Pride is a weekend-long event for students - full of celebration, talks, club events, networking, live performances, a careers fair and an awards ceremony. It's made for students, run by students, and committed to improving the queer student experience across the UK. The daytime festival is open to anyone over the age of 16 - if you are under 16 you can still attend if you are accompanied by an adult.
Take a look at this year's lineup and buy tickets here: https://www.studentpride.co.uk/
Notts Big Queer Market - Nottingham - Quarterly
Queer Market
Notts Big Queer Market launched in 2025 as a quarterly event for queer creatives in Nottingham to come together, find community, sell their work and socialise. The events usually run across two days and have around 70-80 traders selling everything from art to food to clothing and jewelry. They also offer drag life-drawing workshops, portrait photography, and fundraisers for some great causes throughout the year. Plus, the venue is accessible, and the first hour is a quiet hour.
You can buy tickets for July's market at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/ or stay up to date with what's going on by following the organisers on instagram at @pink___menace & @moonbuns.exe
Queer East - London - April
Queer Film & Performance Festival
Queer East is a ten-day film festival centering LGBTQ+ cinema, live arts, and moving image work from East and Southeast Asia. Launched in 2020 in response to the lack of Asian representation in cinema, onstage, and behind the scenes, the festival takes places across multiple venues across London, exploring notions of what it means to be queer and Asian in the modern world.
Find out more and buy tickets to screenings here: https://queereast.org.uk/
LDN Queer Mart - London - (no longer running)
Queer Market
Sadly, LDN Queer Mart closed its doors in 2026, but it holds a very special place in my heart. It was a super queer, community-focused market held at a bunch of different locations across London throughout the year. Their events offered queer artists and quees small businesses owners to showcase their work, connect with customers, network with like-minded traders and sell their products to the public. We're sad to see them go, and if you ever attended one of their events, please check out the GoFundMe link below to help Boe close the company down:
SQUIFF - Glasgow - October
Queer Film Festival
SQIFF (Scottish Queer International Film Festival) is a non-profit LGBTQ+ film festival that was set up back in 2015. Since then, SQUIFF has held its annual Film Festival in Glasgow every October, whilst also running events and screenings throughout the year. Their aim is to support marginalised groups within the LGBTQ+ community, provide networking opportunities for queer filmmakers, and build community through queer films.
Check out their upcoming events here: https://www.sqiff.org/
Deviants Market - Brighton - Quarterly
Kinky Queer Art Market
Deviants Market is a new one on the scene. Launching in 2025 and held at Komedia in Brighton, they focus on the kinkier side of queer markets. Expect plenty of jewellery, apparel, art prints, erotica, accessories, and ceramics with a kinky edge. Entry is free, though donations are welcome and they also hold a raffle. Shop small, sexy, queer businesses at a local kink-focused pride market.
Check out their upcoming events here: https://linktr.ee/deviantsmarket
Homotopia - Liverpool - November
Queer Art & Culture Festival
Homotopia Festival is the UK’s longest-running LGBTQIA+ arts and culture festival. Every November, the Liverpool-based festival runs a month-long series of events and performances showcasing local, national, and international LGBTQIA+ artists and creatives. Events across the city include exhibitions. talks, screenings, live shows, workshops and parties. The festival hasn't released their dates for 2026 yet, but you can stay up to date with what they have planned here: https://www.homotopia.net/
Homotopia also offers a 12-month support program for early-career artists called QueerCore. The program offers support for LGBTQIA+ artists in the Liverpool City Region to grow, build connections and develop new ideas.
Learn more about Queercore here: https://www.homotopia.net/queercore/
inQ! Comic Fair - London - September
Queer Comic Festival
inQ! is London's Queer Comic Fair, offering LGBTQIA+ comic and zine creators a creative, safe and supportive space to share their self-published work with the world. This year, they're bringing you not one, but TWO whole days of comic fair glory. Double the artists! Double the comic fair fabulouness! The event takes place at the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre, on the banks of the River Thames, this year on the 26th & 27th of September from 10.30am - 5.30pm. It's inclusive, community-focused, family-friendly and a lot of fun.
Tickets are free, but you can find out more about what's on here: https://inqlondoncomicfair.com/
The Queer Fringe Festival - Cardiff - June
Queer Art & Performance Festival
The Queer Fringe Festival launched in 2024, where some of Cardiff's best venues and artists come together for a month of queer fringe events - including theatre, comedy, live music, film, drag, visual art exhibitions, dance, and digital arts. Run by the team behind The Queer Emporium, the festival is Wales's first queer fringe festival, and with so many events happening across the month, you're bound to find time to attend at least a few.
You can find their program here: https://queerfringefestival.com/whats-on/
Queer Art Market - Manchester - Quarterly
Queer Market
Manchester Queer Art Market (MQAM) is a queer art market now held quarterly at Waterside Arts Centre that allows LGBTQ+ artists, creatives, and makers in the North West to show off their work. Run by a collective of queer makers and market lovers, their aim is to ensure that the market is accessible to all artists, regardless of financial barriers. If you get a chance to go to one of these events, do. The vibe is lovely, the people are amazing and the art is very, very queer.
Find out when their next event is here: https://linktr.ee/mcrqueerartmarket
Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest - London - September
Queer DIY Art & Film Festival
Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest has been running in London since 2011 as an entirely volunteer-run organisation. Every autumn, they showcase an eclectic mix of films, arts and events celebrating LGBTIQA+ stories from around the world. From feature films to experimental installations, workshops and lively debates to wild parties, Fringe! hosts a multitude of diverse events to tickle every one of the senses.
Learn about this year's week-long festival here: https://www.fringefilmfest.com/
Leeds Queer Film Festival - Leeds - March
Queer Film Festival
Leeds Queer Film Festival is a DIY festival run by and for the LGBTQ+ community in Leeds. It combines queer cinema with group discussions, workshops, and talks, raising awareness about current issues of relevance to the community, along with other activities, crafts, and food. It's an annual five-day event that runs every spring, perfect for anyone with a love of queer cinema and open discussion.
Submissions for next year's festival are currently open and can be found here: https://www.leedsqueerfilmfestival.co.uk/
Mighty Hoopla - London - May
Queer Pop Music Festival
First held at a Butlins in Bognor Regis, Mighty Hoopla has grown to become Europe's largest pop music festival. It's currently held at Brockwell Park in London and getting bigger and better every year. Expect plenty of pop music, 90's faves and DJ sets from drag queens. This year's lineup included Ciara, Kate Nash, The Vegaboys and Kesha. If you love camp pop, dance classics and 90s R&B, then this one's for you.
Sound like fun? Grab yourself tickets for next year's event here:
Queerfest - Norwich - February
Queer Art Festival
Queerfest is a month-long LGBTQ+ festival held annually in Norwich every February to coincide with LGBT+ History Month. It's a celebration of LGBTQ+ artists, makers, filmmakers, and performers with a whole bunch of film screenings, markets, events, workshops and talks. A wonderful place to find new art, new ideas and queer joy.
Check out what's on, along with a selection of Pride events here: https://queerfestnorwich.uk/
The Coast Is Queer - Brighton - October
Queer Book Festival
The Coast is Queer is Brighton’s annual festival of LGBTQ+ writing, taking place over a long weekend each October. The first of its kind in the UK, the festival creates a space for queer readers, writers and allies to come together in a grassroots celebration of the written word and its ability to illuminate and enrich the lives of the LGBTQ+ community.
Sign up for their mailing list and stay up to date on the festival here: https://coastisqueer.com/
The Queer Campfire - Multiple Locations - June
Queer Camping Festival
Running since the summer of 2021, The Queer Campfire was predominantly created as a safe space for LGBTQIA+ women, trans and non-binary people to join together for a weekend of camping somewhere in the middle of the UK. Past locations have included Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and the Vale of Belvoir. Each year, the camping festival picks a location and a line-up of diverse queer talent and workshops for you to enjoy, getting back to basics in nature and creating connections.
Sound like fun? Grab yourself tickets for next year's event here: https://www.thequeercampfire.co.uk/
Brums Queer Market - Birmingham - Quarterly
Queer Markets & Live Performances
Brums Queer Market is a brand new quarterly community market and social for the queer, quirky and quinky in Birmingham. It's held at The Village Inn & Nightingale Club and offers a wide selection of crafters, traders, performances, social areas to connect and more. Entry is usually £2 and the event is 18+, and you can stay up to date with their events over on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brumsqueermarket/
Out & Wild - Devon - June
Queer Wellness Festival
Although Out & Wild is a relatively new festival (piloted in 2021), it's quickly become the UK’s biggest festival for lesbian, bi, trans and queer women and those who are non-binary. Held annually in Pembrokeshire, the festival focuses on wellness and shared experiences, giving the festival a 'Pride in the country' feel. There's plenty to do, with music, comedy, wellness, workouts, spoken word, talks, wild swimming, hikes and workshops.
If it sounds like your cup of tea, you can grab yourself camping or non-camping tickets here:
QueerSwap - London - Monthly
Queer Market & Swap-Meet
QueerSwap hosts monthly sustainable swap-meets and socials across London. Whether it's clothes swaps, book swaps, or workshops you're after, why not swing by, meet some new people, and join in the fun? They're a great day out, celebrating LGBTQ+ creatives from London and beyond, full of creativity, community, and all-round good vibes.
Take a look at their linktree to learn more about upcoming events: https://linktr.ee/queerswap
Have we missed a queer festival or market near you? Want to add your event to our list? Ping us a message over on Instagram @ProudGeekBookshop or email us at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌
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