Aim is to make festival accessible to all.
Birmingham’s biggest celebration of queer arts and culture, Shout Festival, is celebrating its tenth anniversary this November, and the organisers have announced a new scheme that will provide free event tickets to audience members who are on a low income.
The festival returns to venues across Birmingham from Tuesday 5th–Sunday 17th November with a packed schedule of over 20 events, and the Southside-based festival directors do not want costs to act as a barrier for people accessing the arts on show. In total, nine paid-for events have been made available for free to those who can’t afford it.
Included in the accessible events is the Nightingale’s renowned opening party on Tuesday 5th November, complete with cabaret acts and a screening of iconic queer film Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Other free-to-low-income events include a poetry workshop at Birmingham Hippodrome, a dive into the history of the culture at The Loft Lounge and a screening of Deep In 
Vogue, a documentary detailing the commercialisation of the LBGTQ+ scene and other issues, hosted at the Nightingale.
Southside is home to the most diverse population in Birmingham and venues across the district strive to be inclusive and accepting to all. For this milestone Shout Festival, the Southside district is home to twelve events across six venues, including the Electric, BOM and the LGBT centre.
The headline show at this year’s festival is an exclusive one man show with John Walters, who will be performing in Birmingham for the very first time. The man behind classics such as Hairspray and Pink Flamingos will be on stage at Birmingham Hippodrome on Wednesday 13th November.
Adam Carver, producer and programmer for Shout Festival, said: “Shout Festival is a real celebration of queer culture and diversity in the arts. We want to open our events up to everyone, and we don’t want costs to hold people back, that’s why we’ve installed the low-income policy.
“This year’s line-up is exciting, educational and energetic, and we want as many people as possible to join in the celebrations – we hope to see a lot of new faces this November!”
Julia Robinson, manager at Southside BID, said: “There is a great atmosphere in Southside when Shout Festival starts – it’s always an amazingly organised, fun and thought provoking celebration, and we’re thrilled to have so many venues taking part and joining in with the free ticket initiative.”
To enquire about the low-income tickets, email [email protected] and to see a full schedule of events, including which shows are free to attend for low income, visit
