Midsumma Festival Melbourne

Midsumma Festival is Melbourne's annual LGBTQIA+ event that celebrates culture and local communities. Over the course of the 22-day festival, you can look forward to more than 165 queer events which take place in and around Melbourne. Midsumma Festival first began as a week-long pride in Melbourne, in 1989. From its humble beginnings, the festival has expanded into a three-week event, which attracts roughly over 280,000 people each year.  

During Midsumma Festival, a host of queer-related events take place throughout Melbourne, with everything from exhibitions and workshops to readings, sport, and cabaret. The two key events for the annual festival, however, are the Midsumma Carnival and the Midsumma Pride March. The Midsumma Carnival has arguably become the highlight of the annual festival, and usually takes place during one entire day in January, in the Alexandra Gardens. The carnival is the pefect prelude for the rest of Midsumma Festival, offering loads of live music, a T Dance, and the popular Dog Show. 

The Pride March is the second key event of Midsumma Festival, and usually takes place in February, along Fitzroy Street, St. Kilda. Welcoming over 45,000 spectators, and more than 7,000 pride marchers, this has become Victoria's largest pride march. The very first pride march in Melbourne took place in 1996, governed by Pride March Victoria, and welcomed an impressive 11,000 people. Today, tributes are still paid to this iconic moment in Melbourne's pride history.   

As well as providing an incredible three-week festival each year in Melbourne, Midsumma Festival has evolved into one of Australia's most important queer arts organizations. It continues to nuture queer art and culture, by giving voice to generations of LGBTQ people, as well as discovering new artists and initiating pertinent conversations.  

For full details on Midsumma 2024 and all previous editions, be sure to check out the official event program. Happy Pride!