Experience

Queer March Ghent returns in March 2026 with month-long programme

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Ghent in East Flanders will once again host a month of queer-focused activities in March 2026 as Queer March Ghent rolls out a city-wide programme of talks, workshops, exhibitions, performances and community gatherings. The grassroots initiative, run by a collective of queer-identifying volunteers, positions itself as an independent platform without political or institutional affiliations, aiming to connect, empower and celebrate the city’s queer community.

Operating from a grassroots approach, the organisers state that they seek to create inclusive and safer spaces where hate speech, discrimination and microaggressions are not tolerated. 

The collective explicitly aligns itself with queer, feminist, anti-colonial, anti-racist and anti-ableist values, and expresses solidarity with international justice movements. Financial support for the initiative partly comes from a subsidy by the City of Ghent, which helps keep many activities affordable or free.

From one day to a full month

Queer March began as a conversation between friends in 2022. In 2023, the organisers founded vzw Janet and launched an open call for volunteers. 

The first edition took place in March 2024 with a full day of activities at VIERNULVIER, formerly known as De Vooruit. The programme included panel discussions such as ‘Pride in crisis?‘ and ‘Queer belonging‘, alongside workshops, a fair featuring queer organisations and businesses, and social spaces for community exchange.

In 2025, the concept expanded into a month-long edition with activities throughout March, ranging from panel talks and drag shows to sports sessions and open mic nights. 

The 2026 edition continues that format under the slogan ‘March is for the queers‘, framing the month as both a celebration and a response to what organisers describe as rising anti-queer and anti-trans sentiment in Flanders and beyond.

Opening day on 01 March

Queer March 2026 opens on Sunday 01 March from 14:00 to 20:00 at the Lousbergsgebouw, Tarbotstraat 61 in Ghent. The opening centres on the annual theme of Community Care and features a queer marketplace from 14:00 to 17:30, the official opening moment and presentation of a Community Care art installation from 16:00 to 16:30, and a Mutual Aid Kitchen from 18:00 to 20:00.

Exhibitions, talks and performances

Among the early highlights is ‘Breadwinner‘, a staged exhibition by Shif-t*, running from 06 March at 11:00 until 15 March at 18:00 at Kunsthal Gent. The project examines labour and precarity in the art field through live displays of submitted CVs and letters, combined with conversations with artists and cultural workers.

From 06 March at 20:00 to 08 March at 19:00, chopinchopin at Beverhoutplein hosts a book launch and exhibition by Isabel Pousset centred on the publication ‘How to use photography as a tool for the ultimate love relationship‘.

On 10 March from 19:00 to 21:30, a Repair Café organised by Green Office UGent takes place at the Stadsacademie in Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat, combining practical repair work with networking.

A screening of the film ‘Girl‘ by Lukas Dhont is scheduled for 11 March from 19:00 to 23:00 at Geuzenhuis V.Z.W., followed by a panel discussion on the past, present and future of trans care.

The theatre production ‘Ander Strand‘ by Jarne Van Loon and Freek De Craecker will be staged on 12 March from 20:30 to 22:30 at CAMPO Nieuwpoort. The performance revisits the legacy of De Rooie Vlinder, a radical queer organisation that played a key role in organising one of Belgium’s first Pride events in Ghent in 1978, and concludes with a staged walkout manifestation towards Ghent City Hall.

Community care and dialogue

On 20 March from 16:30 to 21:00, the Queer Care Café takes place at De Meubelfabriek. The event is divided into two parts: from 17:00 to 18:30, queer care providers meet and exchange experiences; from 19:00 to 20:40, they connect with queer people seeking care.

Intergenerational exchange is central to LGBTQXYZ: Intergenerationele dialoog on 21 March at CAMPO Nieuwpoort. Doors open at 13:30, with the Dutch-language panel discussion running from 14:00 to 15:30 and focusing on queer experiences across different generations.

On 22 March from 14:00 to 18:00, Queer Quest Ghent, organised by Gay Gatherings, invites teams to explore the city through a game combining puzzles, storytelling and queer history. 

A week later, on 28 March from 14:00 to 18:00, a Queer History Cruise led by Jens Ranson departs from the kiosk in Citadelpark and concludes at Vrijdagmarkt, highlighting places significant to Ghent’s queer past.

The month concludes on 31 March from 20:00 to 22:00 at Minard with the presentation of the book ‘Trans… et alors?‘ by prof. dr. Piet Hoebeke, Lieve Blancquaert and Marijke Libert, featuring conversations with contributors about gender diversity, recognition and lived experience.

Reclaiming Ghent’s radical queer roots

The organisers explicitly link Queer March to Ghent’s history of queer activism. In 1973, Belgium’s first public queer march took place in the city during a national pro-choice demonstration. 

In 1978, De Rooie Vlinder organised the first ‘Homosexual Day‘ in Ghent. Queer March describes its work as a continuation and reclamation of that radical heritage, seeking to turn every March into a space for visibility, solidarity and collective action.

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