From Friday 16 to Sunday 18 January 2026, the historic centre of Bruges in West Flanders in Belgium will once again host the Prisma Queer Arts Festival. Over three days, the festival presents a wide-ranging arts programme that places queer stories, identities and experiences at its core.
Prisma Queer Arts Festival invites audiences to be their authentic selves, beyond the binary frameworks that often limit ideas about gender, love and relationships, and to engage with the richness of local and international queer creativity. The guiding principle remains clear: reclaim your space.
The weekend offers a rich and varied programme across venues throughout the city, combining visual art, film, literature, heritage, workshops, nightlife and performance.
Friday 16
The festival opens on Friday evening with the exhibition ‘Softness Takes The Stage Below‘ in the catacombs of the Stadsschouwburg. Featuring work by Simon Aertsen, Ynne De Wever, Sophia Van Beethoven and Nixie Van Laere, the exhibition explores vulnerability, resilience and intimacy through soft gestures and layered forms, and remains on view throughout the weekend.
Also on Friday, Bibliotheek Brugge hosts a queer author panel in collaboration with Prisma and reading group In Between Books. Writers Audrey Adelin, Christina De Witte (Chrostin) and Hanne Eerdekens discuss how queer literature can offer recognition, reflection and a pathway towards self-discovery. The first festival day concludes with PRISMA POPS, a late-night club event at Het Cachot featuring DJ sets and performances by Jaja Nette, Martini Bellini, Rostgoed, Kiki La Riche and Brian Damage.
Saturday 17
Saturday places a strong emphasis on history and critical reflection. At the Groeningemuseum, visitors are invited to join a queer instaprondleiding, or drop-in guided tour, developed and led by historian Dr Jonas Roelens.
Drawing on his research into gender and sexuality in history, Roelens guides audiences through the museum collection to reveal queer themes and stories that are rarely made explicit, offering new perspectives on artistic representations of gender and desire across time.
Later that day, Dr Jonas Roelens also presents the lecture ‘M/V/X: Genderdiversiteit‘ is van alle tijden, which challenges the idea of gender as a strictly male–female binary. By highlighting historical figures and lived experiences that fall outside those categories, the lecture demonstrates how gender diversity has always been woven into human societies.
Elsewhere in the city, Saturday’s programme includes an upcycling workshop at Kringwinkel Sint-Jakobs, an accessible introduction to drag led by Haas & Idiot, and a collective rolling ritual that invites participants to reflect and connect at the start of the new year.
The evening culminates in Happy New Queer at the Stadsschouwburg, a festive stage programme hosted by Anne-Laure Vandeputte that brings together emerging queer talent and established artists in a vibrant mix of performance, music, dance and humour.
Sunday 18
Sunday turns towards storytelling and celebration. A writing workshop on queer joy, led by Lounis Mechraoui, explores how joy, freedom and resilience can be transformed into language and imagination.
Visitors can also enjoy a final viewing of ‘Softness Takes The Stage Below‘, followed by a closing drink. The festival concludes with a screening of the queer cult classic ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch‘ at Cinema Lumière. Introduced by superfan Maria Kleopatra, the evening ends with an informal after-drink in Villa Bota.
So?
Prisma Queer Arts Festival is a collaboration between Antwerp Queer Arts Festival, the City of Bruges diversity service, Lumière, CGSO, Dwaalzin, Bibliotheek Brugge, Kringwinkel, Musea Brugge, BrUIT, Sniffing Velvet and the Prisma community. Many activities are free, some require registration, and venues are largely wheelchair accessible.
Prisma Queer Arts Festival 2026 takes place from 16 to 18 January at various locations across Bruges.
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