Homotopia Festival 2025: UPRISING was a rallying cry. A celebration. A defiant stand.
Uprising meant resistance. It meant refusing to be silenced. It meant showing up loudly, creatively, unapologetically in the face of systems that seek to erase us. And as the UK’s longest-running LGBTQIA+ arts and culture festival, Homotopia rose to meet the moment.
Because uprising doesn’t always start with a megaphone. Sometimes, it starts with a paintbrush. A performance. A protest sign. A drag act in a pub, a zine in a backpack, a story told between friends. It started right here in Liverpool, a city forged through dissent, solidarity, and working-class organising. It happened in real time, as queer and trans communities resisted, reimagined, and rebuilt.
This year, we platformed the boldest voices: artists, agitators, and visionaries whose work lives at the intersection of art and activism. From Liverpool and the wider city region to communities across the UK and beyond, we spotlighted hyper-local creativity that spoke truth to power.
And yes — the unexpected appeared at every turn.
This year’s festival burst with explorative art: from murals to drag, poetry to protest. As Liverpool hosted an unapologetically queer, defiant, grassroots arts festival, audiences experienced theatre, live art, visual art, film, photography, heritage, workshops, screenings and more. Together, we celebrated creativity that was grassroots, intersectional, and gloriously unruly.
A note from our Festival Producer, Natalie Lloyd:
Thank you for being part of Homotopia Festival: UPRISING. Whether you were creating work, producing, running a venue, teching a show, supporting audiences, volunteering, or holding everything together behind the scenes – I genuinely appreciate the time, energy, and care you brought to this year’s festival. It was a true honour and privilege to work closely with so many of you.
This year, we celebrated Uprising! across 5 bold categories:
Art – from murals to installations, creativity that won’t be contained
Film – stories that resist, reimagine, and rebuild
Discovery – workshops, talks, and spaces to learn & connect
Community – spaces to reflect and rejoice
Performance – theatre, drag, live art & more that demand attention
Whether you were craving bold performance, riotous laughter or a moment of queer reflection, Homotopia Festival 2025 delivered. We kicked things off at our Festival Launch Party, where community and cabaret collided, then stepped into the glitter-soaked world of Mr Blackpool’s Seaside Spectacular for an evening of drag, dance and unapologetic joy.
For those seeking something a little deeper, An Evening With Dross offered a mesmerising blend of ritual, film and queer resistance, while Descendant Of A Rebel Dyke traced the roots of activism with power and clarity. Our Young Homotopia & QueerCore Showcase celebrated fresh creative voices bursting onto the scene, and Remember Nature invited audiences to reconnect art and the environment in transformative ways. We rounded things off with Extraordinary Acts Cabaret, a glittering celebration of trans love and community care.
However you chose to join the uprising, Homotopia offered something unforgettable.
We loved uprising beside you, make sure to keep an eye out for the open call for 2026, which will be announced early next year…
We want to hear your thoughts!
We’re really keen to hear how your experience of Homotopia Festival 2025 went so that we can continue our great work with and for LGBTQIA+ people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. It’s really important to us that we listen to our growing community, we are committed to making Homotopia Festival as good as it can be for many years to come.
Throughout the festival, we will be inviting you to feedback your thoughts to us either in person or via an online document.
Please share your thoughts with us by visiting: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=MVElUymxEECG4UdL_X6AdpgT3p37lU1JpFpBD8h0AE1URUpWRUdDQVdRRktLS1pTVEdXVEU2UDdRUC4u&route=shorturl
We look forward to hearing about your experience, thank you!
Access
All of our participating venues have level access and accessible bathrooms, and where possible events are interpreted with BSL and/or captions.
Please contact [email protected] if you have any access queries or concerns we can help with, we’re here to support you.
