Since 1997, Feast Festival has created a space for LGBTQIA+ artists, performers and communities across South Australia. Every November, Adelaide becomes an epicentre for queer art and culture, with a programme spanning theatre, cabaret, drag, comedy, film, music, visual arts and community gatherings. Running from 1 to 22 November, the 2026 edition brings together more than 80 events across Adelaide and regional South Australia under the theme JOY!
Beyond the visual arts programme, Feast brings together a wide range of events across South Australia. In Adelaide, this month's programme includes Night Stage, Phoebs, You’re a Lesbian, Picnic in the Park, Pride March Adelaide 2026, Queer.China.Now, Re, She’s the He, The Birdcage, The Feast Festival Gayla, Turning Red and Watermelon Woman. Further north, in Burra, the festival extends its reach with Burra Pride Long Lunch & Picnic and Wandering Tales: Home Comings. Explore the full Feast Festival programme for event details and locations.
This celebration carries the memory of a long struggle for LGBTQIA+ rights in the state.
In 1972, the death of Dr George Duncan brought national attention to violence against queer people and helped galvanise a movement demanding legal change and action. Adelaide held its first Pride march in 1973, and in 1975 South Australia became the first Australian state to legislate in favor of LGBTQIA+ rights. This history gives the festival's celebration a deeper meaning. The freedom to gather, create, love and be visible has been shaped by generations.
For Feast's Executive Director, Skye Bee, joy is an act of rebellion. It is a way of loving openly, being visible and reminding the world that queer communities are here. At a time when LGBTQIA+ rights and public visibility continue to face challenges, celebrating joy is a way of affirming life, identity and the right to gather.
On Tuesday, 3 November, from 6:30 to 8 pm, the Feast Hub opens its visual arts programme at Goodwood Theatre & Studios in Adelaide. The evening brings together three exhibitions exploring identity, belonging, personal experience and connection. Learn more →
Re, by Feast's 2026 cover artist Eddie Normington, explores the rediscovery of joy within identity and the self. Drawing on intimate experiences of queer life, the exhibition finds meaning in moments such as hosting a house party with chosen family or trying drag makeup for the first time. These everyday experiences become ways of recognising pleasure, self-expression and the possibilities of living openly. Learn more →
Queer Experiences is a photovoice exhibition built from photographs made by members of South Australia's queer community. Participants were invited to document a time, space or place where they felt safe and accepted. The resulting images offer personal perspectives on belonging and show how a sense of safety can emerge through particular places, relationships and everyday encounters.
Evolve Love, curated by Jessica Curtis of In Search of the Divine, brings together queer artists exploring spirituality and connection. Responding to the festival's theme, the group exhibition approaches love through ideas of healing, gratitude, compassion, resilience and transformation, reflecting on the different ways LGBTQIA+ communities experience spiritual life.
Together, the exhibitions move between personal discovery and collective experience. They bring together celebrations of identity, shared memories, expressions of belonging and connection, showing how these experiences intertwine in the ways people relate to themselves and one another. From the freedom of self-expression to the search for places where one feels at home, these events open up different perspectives on building community through its celebration.
Feast takes place in Kaurna Country and acknowledges the enduring presence and cultural authority of First Nations peoples. The festival also recognises queer First Nations communities, including Sistagirls and Brothaboys, and the enduring connections between culture, identity, and community. Learn more →
The Struggle for LGBTQIA+ Rights in South Korea
Throughout November, South Korean artist Showna Kim presents AM I?, I AM? (2018–2021), a work examining the social perception of homosexuality in South Korea and the opposition expressed by conservative Christian groups towards LGBTQIA+ rights. The project raises questions about the democratic potential of society, demanding inclusion and equal rights regardless of gender or sexual orientation. It also asks what conditions are necessary for people to participate fully in social life. Through these questions, Kim brings the struggle for LGBTQIA+ recognition into a wider reflection on democracy, representation and equal participation.
Explore Showna Kim's AM I?, I AM?. Learn more →
Palestine Cinema Days is on across Japan!
From 1–4 November, the fourth edition of Palestine Cinema Days Around the World reaches more than 100 venues across approximately 30 prefectures in Japan. Screenings are taking place in cities and regions including Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Okinawa and Hokkaido. As part of Band 3 of the Sunrise Relay, this nationwide programme brings Palestinian cinema to audiences across Japan, creating spaces to encounter Palestinian stories, filmmaking and perspectives through the moving image.
Explore the Palestine Cinema Days programme in Japan. Learn more →
Across Adelaide, Seoul and Japan, these initiatives bring different struggles and expressions into conversation through the celebration of queer identities, the demand for equal participation and the circulation of Palestinian stories through cinema. Each creates space for voices and experiences that challenge exclusion, affirm dignity and expand the possibilities of living together.
You can join in too
You can join in too. Put yourself on the map, share your art or list your November event. Free practical guides are available on the Global Artivism website. From 3 to 7 November, the Global Artivism Convening begins. Hosting something this November? Put it on the map.
