Queer Arts Festival Vancouver 2024

Queer Arts Festival (QAF) returns for its 17th year with a full month of programming. QAF 2024: The Ties That Bind runs from June 1 to 30, 2024 and will showcase a spectrum of events anchored by QAF’s signature Curated Visual Art Exhibition.

QAF 2024: The Ties That Bind

• Date: June 1 to 30, 2024
• Location: Various venues across Vancouver
• Tickets: Free and ticketed events. Information about ticketed events is available online.

The 2024 Queer Arts Festival theme is The Ties That Bind, examining the bonds and complexities of Family, be it blood or chosen, and how queer communities continue to survive and thrive alongside, within, and occasionally despite, traditional family constructs.

QAF’s annual ArtParty! on June 14, 2024 kicks off the months programming at the Roundhouse Community Centre with an evening of art, music, conviviality, and the launch of QAF 2024’s Curated Visual Art Exhibition CRAWL SPACE by Flavourcel. Through projection, experimental animation techniques and interactive installations, visitors are invited to immerse themselves in the transformed “house” within the Roundhouse Exhibition Hall – a space grounded in community-care and collective art-making.
 
Roundhouse’s Performance Centre will host many events including Ayibobo III: Little Dollhouse on the Prairie, a dynamic blend of dance and experimental soundscapes that delves into the realms of Black and queer identity on June 15 and 16, 2024. Ballroom performers transform into an array of characters while blending pop culture and Haitian Voodoo, bridging modern and ancestral views on gender and sexuality.
 
QAF 2024 events take place throughout the city, including the Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza, Malaspina Printmakers, The James Black Gallery, Fortune Sound Club, Ocean Artworks, and QAF’s very own SUM gallery, which will showcase the group photography show, Queer Eyes, Queer Lives. This powerful exhibition features work from over 60 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, ages 14 – 29. Their work explores themes of identity, drug use, housing, and mental health, offering a visual snapshot into how queer youth engage with these issues. 

Visit Queer Arts Festival online for the full QAF 2024: The Ties That Bind event lineup, ticket information, and more.

About Queer Arts Festival

The Queer Arts Festival is an annual, artist-run, professional, transdisciplinary arts festival. Recognized among the top 3 festivals of its kind worldwide, QAF produces, presents and exhibits challenging, thought-provoking work that pushes boundaries and initiates dialogue. Each year, the festival theme ties together a curated visual art exhibition, performing art series, workshops, artist talks, panels, and media art screenings.

Browse more Vancouver Festivals this season »