“We’ve been doing this for 13 years”, Antwerp Queer Arts Festival says. Since 2013, AQAF organises a queer, more edgy, more ‘alternative’, less polished, less gentrified (?) festival for LGBTQIA+ people in the summer. It runs alongside Antwerp Pride.
From 19 June to 16 August 2026, the Antwerp Queer Arts Festival (AQAF) will transform Antwerp into a vibrant hub of queer art and culture across multiple venues, including Kunsthal Extra City, M HKA, Morpho, De Nor, Het Bos and Zuidpark.
At the heart of the festival is the exhibition ‘Biophony – Beats of love‘, running at Kunsthal Extra City throughout the entire period. This is complemented by ‘Beast of Live‘ at Morpho on 27 June, the ongoing ‘The Living Room Series‘ at Morpho and the installation ‘Wishing Well‘ at M HKA, which will also feature ‘Wishing Well – Jam Session‘.
The workshop programme offers a diverse range of experiences: ‘Woeker Quilt‘ at M HKA on 12 July, ‘Workout like FLINTA – Werk like Drag*‘ on 1 August, ‘Non Binary Electronics‘ at Morpho on 9 August and ‘Silliness and vulnerability as tools for queering intimacy‘ at Morpho on 3 August.
Later in the festival, participants can join ‘Exciting Research: Compassionate Intra-Actions in Queer Public Space‘ and ‘Collectieve Healingcirkel‘, both at Morpho on 16 August.
Kiss-in at Zuidpark
Performance highlights include ‘Freak Rituals‘ at Morpho on 2 August and the public intervention ‘La Bamba – Kiss in‘ at Zuidpark on 8 August.
The festival opens with ‘Opening – Biophony – Beats of love’ at Kunsthal Extra City on 19 June from 19:00 to 23:00. Other special events include ‘Alle Queers naar De Nor‘, an evening at De Nor on 8 August from 20:00 to midnight, and the collaborative evening ‘AQAF X MERHABA X BELGEO‘ at Het Bos on 14 August from 18:00 to 02:00.
For tickets and more information, visit queerarts.be/calendar.
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