Adelaide’s LGBTQIA+ arts and cultural festival returns this Pridevember, running 1 – 22 November, with a full program built around one big idea: Joy.
The 2026 season is the biggest yet – bringing three weeks of theatre, cabaret, comedy, drag, visual art, film and community events to Adelaide and beyond; created by and for the queer community.
This year’s program spans 160+ events across the season, from an Opening Night Street Party that kicks things off, to the Adelaide Queer Film Festival screening at Piccadilly Cinema from 11 to 15 November, the Feast Festival Hub as the season’s beating heart, and the return of the iconic Gayla.
The festival closes the way it always does, with everyone welcome: the free community favourite Picnic in the Park at Whitmore Square / Iparrityi on Sunday 22 November 2026.
The 2026 cover artwork was created by Adelaide artist Eddie Normington, winner of this year’s Front Cover Commission on the theme of Joy. Their work sets the tone for the whole season – they are inspired by all things colourful, sparkly, and love to explore queer concepts, theory, and lived internal experiences through their work.
The cover depicts the feeling of celebratory happiness and the beauty of taking up space as queer folk, as it can be a tangible force shared with each other within the community and throughout this festival.
“Joy. It is how we resist, how we love out loud, and how we remind the world we are still here and still glorious. When our communities gather, something shifts. We find each other,” said Skye Bee, Feast Festival Executive Director.
“We hold each other. We take up space that was never freely given, and we fill it with colour, sound, and unapologetic pride. These three weeks are an invitation. To be seen. To be loud. To feel the JOY of a room full of people who get it,” said Bee.
Highlights of the 2026 Festival include:
- Opening Night – Street Party – one night, one street, and the whole festival ahead of us. Feast Festival in 2026 opens with live music, DJs and a line-up of acts taking over the road.
- Phoebs, You’re a Lesbian. A thespian and her keyboard leap out of the closet – it’s a metaphor and a stage direction. Featuring a catchy original score, sparkly doc martens, and too many niche anecdotes to count. Join Phoebe Rodger as she explores the euphoric highs, embarrassing lows, and awkward in-betweens of the lesbian experience.
- Pride March Adelaide – This is our city. This is our community. This is Pride. Pride March Adelaide returns to the East End bringing LGBTQIA+ South Australians, friends, families and allies together for an afternoon of visibility, community and Pride.
- The Feast Festival Gayla – Feast’s iconic Gayla is back for a night of sharp wit, queer brilliance and beautiful chaos. No headliner, no hierarchy, just a stacked lineup of comics, cabaret artists, drag performers and one or two things you will not see coming.
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Queer Theatre History – Stephen Nicolazzo, Artistic Director of Brink Productions, sits down for a conversation about queer theatre history: the work that came before us, the storytelling that shaped it, and what it means to make queer theatre now.
- Re:Life is a collection of works exploring the rediscovery of joy within identity and self. These vibrant works invite you to consider and reflect on how your identity and/or lived experiences can enhance your life and day-to-day activities.
- Adelaide Queer Film Festival showcases a mix of contemporary and classic films including Skiff, Body Blow, Bound, Night Stage, Watermelon Woman, She’s the He, The Birdcage and a Dolly Parton tribute screening.
- The Feast Hub at the Goodwood Theatre & Studios features a dynamic program including Big Easy Vaudeville, The Damage Is Done, Queer Experiences: a photovoice exhibition, Ian Purcell Oration, PERMISSION, Kymbo’s Variety Extravaganza Vol. 2, Draw your Inner Drag Icon with Wonder Mama, Take What You Need and Two Men Observing An Elephant.
- Picnic in the Park takes over Whitmore Square/Iparrityi for a day of DJs, live acoustic music, circus workshops, crafting and face painting, with market stalls, food trucks and a bar to keep you going. Cheer on the pups at the infamous Feast Dog Show
“Joy is not the easy option. It takes courage to make work that celebrates, to trust that pleasure and delight and laughter carry as much weight as rage or grief. The 2026 program is full of artists who chose joy as their subject, their method, their argument, and they have pulled it off spectacularly,” said Katherine Sortini, Feast Festival Creative Director.
The 2026 Feast Festival runs 1 – 22 November. For more information and full program, visit: www.feast.org.au for details.
Image: Feast Festival Gayla (supplied)