Cementing its status as a defiantly audacious staple of the LGBT+ community, enter stage left SHOUT Festival 2017. Last year boasted a nothing-short-of-brilliant line-up and a seamlessly magical festival and this year promises no different with a whole host of treats in store from theatre through comedy, discussion, film and music. Here are our top 5 picks.

Also see our November arts round-up for details of interactive cruising, queer hack zones and more here and individual previews of the deliciously depraved stage show Medea, Written In Rage at The REP, Birmingham Fri Nov 17 and Sat 18 Nov here and gender exploration And The Rest Of Me Floats at The REP on Mon 13 & Tue 14 Nov here.

1. Never mind the fact that the tenacious geniuses behind SHOUT have managed to wrangle this special musical comedy show away from its Broadway extended run and fresh from an Australian tour, it would be unthinkable not to include the one and only Jinkx Monsoon in this top 5 anyway. The Vaudevillians featuring Jinkx Monsoon and co-starring composer and musician Major Scales takes place on Sun 19th Nov 6pm-8pm and tickets are in high demand. Book
here.

2. Slap in the Face, Twiggy Birmingham, Trevor Pitt, the creative mastermind behind the kickass sharp Fluid Festival this year, curates this ongoing multi-media art show extravaganza delving deep into the twisted mind and alter-egos of a Birmingham drag icon via androgynous punky Goth, to energy fuelled Club Kid, to flamboyant event host and walkabout artist, to outrageous stage performer. Twiggy Birmingham documents these experiences through photographs, video, costume and memorabilia. The exhibition runs from the Fri 10 Nov – Sat 18 Nov at Vivid Projects. See here for more details.

3. You’ve Changed A powerfully moving, avant-garde and and exquisitely funny new show about gender transitioning from the bold and beautiful entertainer extraordinaire that is Kate O’Donnell. With an incredible amount of gregarious wit and wisdom, Kate’s curious cabaret traces her personal journey from Fred Astaire through to Ginger Rogers via a talking vagina peep show complete with miniature velvet curtains. Fri 17 Nov Book here.

4. Amongst the many highlights of the festival is the focus and platform given to queer visual arts in all its many and varied forms. The exceptional work of Polish queer artist Karol Radziszewski will dominate the art space at Centrala from Fri 10 Nov – Sat 30th Dec as he curates a collection of material from the Queer Archives Institute. An artists talk and a CineQ screening of Kiesieland will also feature on Sat 11 Nov. See here for details. Also see Coming Out, a groundbreaking major exhibition featuring over 80 modern and contemporary artworks by internationally renowned artists who explore themes of gender, sexuality and identity at BMAG 2 Dec 2017 – 15 Apr 2018. See here for details.

5. Any pick of SHOUT festival highlights has to include the SHOUT OUT community day at the mac Birmingham on Sun 12 Nov. Showcasing and celebrating the exceptional queer talent that this city produces, with performance, live music, arts workshops, family activities, films, and so much more, the day will include pop-up performances curated by QPOC (Queer People of Colour) group unmuted. The best thing is, SHOUT OUT that it’s absolutely inclusive and entirely free. A perfectly sociable Sunday. See here for more.

For more events including Rachel Young’s Jamaican Dancehall art and The Ultimate Lad see our arts editor’s picks here.