Melbourne är delstaten Victorias huvudstad och grundades 1835, 47 år efter att de första européerna kom till Australien. Staden växte fram vid Yarra-floden och blev snabbt landets största stad. Under 1900-talet blev det dock Sydney som tog tätplatsen storleksmässigt och Canberra tog över som Australiens huvudstad. Melbourne ligger otroligt vackert vid Port Phillip. Stadens klimat är milt och på vintern svalt. Som kyligast är det kring 6 grader om vintern (juni-augusti och som varmast 26 grader om sommaren (november-mars). Staden har ett livaktigt gayliv och gay liksom queer-festivaler med inriktning på såväl film, skidåkning som fest hålls flera gånger om året. Prideparaden arrangeras i samband med Midsumma-festivalen i januari/februari. Fakta: Invånare:3745000 Yta:8831 kv. km International Gay & Lesbian Festival in Melbourne. With around 150 events over three weeks of leading performing arts, euphoric dance parties, stunning visual art exhibitions, engaging community events and so much more, you're spoilt for choice! The Midsumma opening day offers a grand outdoor Carnival and T-dance.
Midsumma Festival is Victoria's premier LGBTQIA+ cultural festival, made for and by communities who live with shared experiences around diverse gender and sexuality.
We are a champion of LGBTQIA+ cultures, conversations and events. We are the intersection between generations, people, ideas, stories and experiences – a focal point for connections and belonging. We create inclusive and safe social spaces. We provide platforms for shared experience in a world which often under-represents us. We value diversity and we embrace difference. We increase our communities' profiles and amplify the stories that might otherwise not be seen, heard or felt.
Although the primary three-week festival is held in summer each year, Midsumma works year-round to provide artists, social-changers and culture-makers with support and tools to create, present and promote their work. Midsumma Festival brings a diverse mix of artists, performers, communities and audiences together under a single umbrella for a celebration and innovative presentation of queer arts and culture.
We hope you enjoy our diverse festival program, made up of visual arts, theatre, spoken word, cabaret, film, live music, parties, sport, social events and public forums, featuring nearly 170 events in 2018, with involvement by over 500 culture-makers in over 100 different venues across Melbourne and wider Victoria to anticipated audiences of over 200,000.