Posted in

PROGRAMME | 2026 Antwerp Queer Arts Festival from Friday 19 June to Sunday 16 August 

by Timothy••0

“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.

The Antwerp Queer Arts Festival (AQAF) will return from Friday 19 June to Sunday 16 August 2026 with a programme that combines contemporary art, performance, music, workshops and community activities across several venues in Antwerp. Rooted in the city’s queer artistic scene, the volunteer-driven festival presents itself as a space that challenges social norms and creates room for voices, identities and artistic practices that do not easily fit into conventional categories.

The 2026 edition opens on 19 June with a festive launch event at Kunsthal Extra City, where visitors will also be able to experience the festival’s main exhibition.

Main exhibition explores love and ecology

At the heart of this year’s programme is the exhibition ‘Beats of Love / Biophony‘, which runs from 19 June until 16 August at Kunsthal Extra City. The exhibition forms the central artistic component of AQAF 2026 and explores connections between queer perspectives, love, relationships and the natural world.

The exhibition will remain accessible throughout the festival, allowing visitors to engage with the works over the course of the summer.

‘Beast of Live’ brings a festival within a festival

On 27 June, AQAF will organise ‘Beast of Live‘, described as a one-day mini-festival within the larger festival programme. Taking place between Tuin Morpho and Kunsthal Extra City, the event focuses on togetherness, relaxation and participation.

Visitors can expect karaoke, social activities and opportunities to meet fellow festival-goers in an informal atmosphere. The organisers describe the event as embracing the distinctly Antwerp attitude of “Ik moet just niks” – a local expression meaning that there is no obligation to do anything at all.

Community art project invites participants of all ages

Families and visitors looking for a hands-on experience can take part in ‘Woeker Quilt’ on 12 July at M HKA, the museum of contemporary art. The workshop invites participants to help create a collaborative quilt and is open to everyone aged six and above, regardless of sewing experience.

The project reflects AQAF’s broader emphasis on participation and collective creativity rather than simply presenting finished artworks.

A night of music, poetry and performance

One of the festival’s major nightlife events will be ‘Alle Queers Naar De Nor‘ on 8 August. Hosted from 20:00 until midnight, the event promises a mixture of electropunk, spoken word and techno performances.

The line-up includes performances by Vlinder Verouden, Marie Darah, Corazon De Robota, MUOVIPUSSI and DJ JUNA. Artists from Utrecht, Brussels, Chile, Berlin, and Finland will come together for what organisers describe as a unique evening of queer artistic expression.

Collaboration with Merhaba and BelGeo closes the festival

The festival’s final major event will take place on 14 August at Het Bos. Organised in collaboration with Merhaba and BelGeo, ‘AQAF x Merhaba x BelGeo‘ combines multiple artistic and social activities into a single evening programme.

Running from 18:00 until 02:00, the event will feature exhibitions, DJs, performances, an open stage, a community kitchen, food, an open microphone session and a henna night. The collaboration highlights AQAF’s commitment to building connections between different communities within Belgium‘s LGBTQIA+ landscape.

A festival built by artists and volunteers

Since its founding, AQAF has positioned itself as more than a conventional arts festival. The organisation describes queer not merely as an identity but as a way of questioning established structures and creating space for experimentation, risk-taking and alternative perspectives.

The festival is organised by volunteers who work across artistic, curatorial, performance and organisational roles. After thirteen previous editions, AQAF continues to serve as one of Antwerp’s most prominent platforms for queer art and culture, bringing together local and international artists while fostering participation from audiences of all ages.

With exhibitions, workshops, performances, parties and community gatherings spread across nearly two months, AQAF 2026 aims to offer a broad overview of contemporary queer creativity while maintaining its focus on inclusion, collaboration and artistic exploration.

Antwerp Pride 2026

Antwerp Queer Arts Festival 2025

Beyond Darklands 2027

The latest on LGBTQIA+ events such as prides in Belgium

🇧🇪 Blogger, keen vexillologist, train conductor NMBS/SNCB, traveller, F1 follower, friend of Dorothy.

Leave a Reply

To respond on your own website, enter the URL of your response which should contain a link to this post's permalink URL. Your response will then appear (possibly after moderation) on this page. Want to update or remove your response? Update or delete your post and re-enter your post's URL again. (Find out more about Webmentions.)

Discover more from Sidetrack

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading