Aberdeen Queer Arts Festival is set to make a jubilant return to the city's Lemon Tree this November with four days of music, theatre, spoken word, cabaret and more in a celebration of LGBTQ+ creativity and performance.
Taking place from Thursday, November 5 to Sunday, November 8, the festival, organised by Aberdeen Performing Arts, will feature artists and performers from near and far, and for the first time a Makers Market will showcase local queer makers and artists.
Aberdeen Performing Arts CEO / Creative Director, Sharon Burgess, said: "Last year’s inaugural Aberdeen Queer Arts Festival was met with such enthusiasm from our audiences; the whole weekend full of warmth and joy.
"This year we’re expanding on that success, introducing more performers and some new initiatives, including a makers market to showcase the outstanding queer makers from across the region.
"While the festival is programmed and designed to shine a spotlight on the LGBTQ+ community, allies and friends are most welcome to enjoy all that's on offer across the festival. "Queer stories are human stories, and we welcome everyone to share in this collective celebration."
The festival will kick off with a special curated stage from Hen Hoose, featuring acclaimed artists such as R.Aggs, Susan Bear and Katya Mansell. The event will spotlight the breadth of queer musical expression, from euphoric post-punk and immersive electronic soundscapes to beautifully crafted indie-pop.
Following on from an acclaimed run at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe, Homo(sapien) is on Friday, November 6. The award-winning show from actor and playwright Conor O'Dwyer is a hodgepodge of misadventure and missed adventure that aims to uproot difficult aspects of the queer experience but through a lens of hope and joy.
Also on Friday, November 6, variety show Mattachine is Scotland’s newest evening out for lavender gentlemen, lilac ladies and those who love them. Bringing together guest performances, vintage tunes and great banter, Mattachine celebrates the best of queer culture in all her glorious guises.
Tales from your Queer Elder is at the Lemon Tree on Saturday, November 7. Lucia is a vibrant, 70-something, plus-size lesbian artist with a dazzling 52 years of living proudly out of the closet. In her acclaimed performance, she blends captivating dance with heartfelt spoken word to share intimate, queer-centred stories drawn from decades of real-life experience.
Come ready for smiles, laughter, and a powerful reminder that living authentically is the greatest art of all, because this is more than just a show; it’s an invitation to live authentically and create your own magic.
Headlining on Saturday is Jock Tamson's Bairns. Part drag, part cabaret and part theatre, Jock Tamson’s Bairns is an immersive show where the audience is transported to an after hours gay bar and invited to speak their mind. No topic is taboo, but respect for your fellow humans is compulsory.
Sunday, November 8 is a specially curated Makers Market at the Lemon Tree, as well as a special screening at the Lemon Tree of Pride, presented by the Belmont Cinema.
Based on a true story, the film depicts a group of lesbian and gay activists who raised money to help families affected by the British miners' strike in 1984, at the outset of what would become the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign.
The 2026 Aberdeen Queer Arts Festival comes to a close with Within Reach.
Written and choreographed by veteran dance artist Alan Greig, Within Reach is a humorous exploration of identity, queer culture, aging, and the cracked glamour of fame.
Seamlessly blending eccentric spoken word monologues and crisp choreographed vignettes, the 40 minute dance theatre performance sees Greig skilfully slip between characters as he embodies LGBTQ+ icons Quentin Crisp, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and Tennessee Williams. With humour, intimacy and physical virtuosity Greig invites the audience to join him as he celebrates these stars of queer culture, and to confront the difficult question of where these figures now belong in a world so focused on the young and the new.
Applications for a stall at the Makers Market are open until Sunday, September 20. Apply here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/R8BJLDnR5U
Tickets are on sale now, available from www.aberdeenperformingarts.com, phone (01224) 641122 or visit the box office at His Majesty’s Theatre or the Music Hall.