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ANTWERP PRIDE 2026 | MAS Darling returns with week-long queer culture, film and party festival

by Timothy••0

2026 marks the nineteenth (19th) edition of Antwerp Pride. From Wednesday 5 to Sunday 9 August, Antwerp in Belgium will once again be taken over by rainbow vibes. Prides are a mix of celebration – parties – and activism and advocacy. For the 2026 edition, the organising committee focuses on fearing less and being fearless.

The Museum Aan de Stroom or Museum At the Stream (MAS) will once again become a hub for queer culture during this year’s Antwerp Pride celebrations as it hosts the second edition of MAS Darling, a six-day festival celebrating the diversity, creativity and resilience of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Running from 4 to 9 August 2026, the festival combines art, film, talks, workshops and nightlife. While celebrating queer identities and communities, the programme also highlights the challenges LGBTQIA+ people continue to face.

Art, dialogue and community

One of the festival’s highlights is an evening with filmmaker and author Leo Herrera on 5 August. Herrera, director of ‘Fathers Project‘ and author of ‘Analog Cruising: A Manual‘, will be in conversation with MAS curator Marion Wasserbauer before opening the floor to questions from the audience.

Visitors can also experience ‘SweetMeat‘, an experimental film installation by Dutch artist Bart Hess exploring attraction and repulsion, masculinity and homo-eroticism. The installation will be on display throughout the festival.

In preparation for its major LGBTQIA+ exhibition ‘Between Us‘, opening in February 2027, the museum is also inviting members of the community to contribute their own stories, memories and objects during a special collection day on 5 August. The material gathered may help shape the upcoming exhibition on queer lives in Antwerp.

Workshops and remembrance

Participation is a central theme throughout MAS Darling. On the opening evening, visitors can create their own banners and protest signs under the guidance of artists Jade Kerremans, Chloé Wasselin-Dandre and Kirsten Trippaers, reflecting the long tradition of activism within LGBTQIA+ communities.

The programme also includes ‘Crocheting for Hope‘, a collective art project inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Participants will crochet individual squares commemorating personal stories, with each piece contributing to a larger blanket symbolising remembrance, solidarity and community.

Pride afterparty

The festival concludes with a major Pride weekend event. On the night of 8 August, queer collective Female Boyfriends joins forces with MAS Darling to host a FLINTA* Pride afterparty inside the museum. The event promises dancing until the early hours while giving visitors the opportunity to discover other parts of the festival programme.

MAS Darling takes place from 4 to 9 August 2026 and forms part of Antwerp’s wider Pride programme, using art, culture and community participation to explore both the celebration of queer identities and the ongoing struggle for equality and visibility.

Antwerp Pride 2026-2027

Antwerp Queer Arts Festival 2026

Reclaim Our Pride 2026

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.

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