The Outburst Queer Arts Festival is an annual queer

arts festival An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, dance, film, fine art, literature, poetry and is not solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lit ...

in Northern Ireland. It involves ten days of film, music, debate, literature, visual art, theatre and other performances from local and international LGBT artists and performers. Festival events are held at several venues in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. Started in 2007, the festival marked its 10th anniversary in 2016. The 17th edition of the festival was held in November 2023.

History

The Outburst Queer Arts Festival is an annual queer

. Started in 2007, it marked its 10th anniversary in 2016. The 17th edition of the festival was held in November 2023. In 2024 the festival ran from November 15th to 23rd, and included more than thirty events. One event was a collaboration with Ulster Presents to host ''Mixtape #1'', with

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

, a graduate of

Belfast School of Art The Belfast School of Art, formerly the Belfast Government School of Art, is a School in the Ulster University Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and is physically located at the Belfast campus. Following the results of the Research ...

. It also included the premier of a play, ''Suspect Device'', about the life of transgender bus driver Wilma Creith, who died in 1980 and is considered a 'pioneering figure in the Belfast trans scene'. Creith set up a helpline and support group for Belfast trans people in 1977. The play was staged on a vintage Ulster bus. The festival has previously received funding from the

Department for Social Development Department of Social Development may refer to: * Department of Social Development (Canada) * Department of Social Development (New Brunswick) * Department of Social Development (South Africa) * Department for Social Development (Northern Ireland ...

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council () is the Local government in Northern Ireland, local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast, the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of (), the largest of any district c ...

and

National Lottery National Lottery may refer to: *National Lottery (Ireland), the state lottery of Ireland *National Lottery (United Kingdom), the lottery franchise in the United Kingdom *South African National Lottery, established in 2000 *A number of countries con ...

sources. The festival artistic director is Ruth McCarthy, and the chairperson is David Codling.

References

External links

Outburst Arts Website
Arts festivals in Northern Ireland Festivals in Belfast LGBTQ organisations in Northern Ireland LGBTQ festivals in the United Kingdom LGBTQ film festivals in the United Kingdom LGBTQ literary festivals LGBTQ arts organizations Annual events in Northern Ireland Autumn in Northern Ireland {{UK-festival-stub