YOUR LESBIAN FESTIVALS 2026
This is a curated queer festival guide in Europe, organised by date. It covers festivals for music, film, dance, and politics, alongside Dyke Marches that highlight our community's visibility. Do you miss your favorite? Let us know.
JANUARY
🇹🇷 PINK LIFE QUEERFEST, TURKEY
📍 Ankara / Istanbul 🗓️ January (Annual)
Founded in 2011 as Turkey's first queer festival. Organized by the Pink Life LGBTI+ Solidarity Association, the event screens international and Turkish LGBTQI-themed films. Beyond cinema, the festival serves as a cultural platform for queer theory discussions, literature, music, video art, and theater exhibitions. Note: The 2026 edition took place in January; check their official channels for upcoming dates and local venues.
MARCH
🇳🇱 ROZE FILMDAGEN: AMSTERDAM QUEER FILM FESTIVAL, NETHERLANDS
📍 Amsterdam 🗓️ 10–21 March 2027
The festival started as a small underground event but now draws over 10,000 visitors annually. It screens international cinema and curates LGBTQ+ programs for other festivals.
🇦🇹TRICKY WOMEN/TRICKY REALITIES, AUSTRIA
📍 Vienna 🗓️ 11–15
The film festival has run annually in March since 2001 and is a unique international festival dedicated to animation by women and genderqueer artists. It features competitions, curated programs (historical/contemporary, global/Austrian), workshops, and networking, showcasing the diverse aesthetics of these creators.
🇬🇧BFI FLARE: LONDON LGBTQIA+ FILM FESTIVAL, UK
📍 London 🗓️ 18-29
The London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, formerly the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, is Europe's largest LGBTQ+ film festival. Held every spring in London, it began in 1986 showing LGBTQ+ films as "Gay's Own Pictures" before being renamed in 1988. It has a selection of lesbian features, documentaries, and shorts.
APRIL
🇵🇱17th LGBT+ FILM FESTIVAL POLAND 2026
📍 Warszawa 🗓️ 10–18
📍 Wroclaw 🗓️ 17–23
📍 Cracow 🗓️ 17–23
📍 Poznan 🗓️ 17–23
📍 Online 🗓️ 18– May 3
🇮🇹LOVERS FILM FESTIVAL, ITALY
📍Turin 🗓️ 16-21
Celebrating its 41th edition, Lovers is Europe's oldest and most important LGBTQ+ film festival, with a program of film screenings open to everyone. It's a major cultural event in Turin. During the festival, it also hosts a key two-day networking forum for professionals in the queer film industry, cementing its status as a vital hub for cinema.
🇩🇪QUEERGESTREIFT FILM FESTIVAL, GERMANY
📍Konstanz 🗓️ 16-26
As one of the oldest queer film festivals in the German-speaking world, this volunteer-run event takes place annually at Zebra Cinema. The program features contemporary LGBTQAI+ cinema, historical retrospectives, global documentaries, and experimental short films alongside filmmaker panels and local community workshops.
🇺🇦 SUNNY BUNNY: UKRAINIAN LGBTQIA+ FILM FESTIVAL, UKRAINE
📍 Kyiv 🗓️ 17–24
Ukraine's first standalone LGBTQIA+ film festival, which evolved from a dedicated programming strand established at the Molodist International Film Festival in 2001. The event screens international feature-length fiction films, alongside non-competition screenings of documentaries, shorts, and queer classics, focusing on both global and Ukrainian queer cinema.
🇫🇷THE DRAMAGOUINE FESTIVAL, FRANCE
📍Paris 🗓️ 18-19
The 4th Dramagouine Festival, a LESBOQUEER celebration for International Lesbian Day of Visibility 2026, takes place April 18-19 in Paris. The festival features over 200 Sapphic artists and initiatives. Registration is free or pay-what-you-want (donations appreciated) and open to everyone. Notes: "Dramagouines" combines "Drama" + "Gouine" (reclaimed lesbian/dyke slang); "Adelphes" is gender-neutral French for "siblings"; "Tous.tes" is inclusive French for "all/everyone.
🇵🇹PORTO FEMME, PORTUGAL
📍Porto 🗓️ 20-26
This is the 9th edition of an international film festival that aims to give visibility to women and non-binary people. The festival often has a special focus on lesbian and queer cinema, with dedicated screenings and programs. Since 2017 they also host the PORTO FEMME SESSIONS on the last Wednesday of each month, creating a space for debate and reflection on a wide range of topics. Check their social media for location.
🇩🇪IFFF DORTMUND+KÖLN, GERMANY
📍Köln 🗓️ 22-26
The International Women’s Film Festival Dortmund+Köln alternates locations between the two cities annually. The festival screens independent cinema directed by women and genderqueer artists, focusing on complex female protagonists, intersectional feminism, and innovative visual narratives.
🇫🇷IN & OUT NICE FILM FESTIVAL, FRANCE
📍Nice 🗓️ 23 April – 4 May
The festival showcases contemporary queer cinema through international premieres, dedicated short film competitions, and animated features. The program focus includes documentaries on LGBTQIA+ migrants, coupled with parallel art exhibitions exploring local queer history and diverse aesthetic activism.
🇨🇭 PINK APPLE FILM FESTIVAL, SWITZERLAND
📍 Zürich 🗓️ 27 April–6 May 2027
Switzerland's largest LGBTQ+ film festival. The main edition in Zürich screens international independent features, documentaries, and shorts, alongside a competition program, director talks, and the annual Pink Apple Award ceremony.
🇩🇪FREIBURG GAY FILM WEEK, GERMANY
📍Freiburg 🗓️ 29 April - 6 May
Celebrating over 40 editions, this long-running festival showcases international LGBTQ+ features, documentaries, and expanded short film programs. The event includes audience-choice awards, filmmaker Q&As, and cultural partnerships featuring scenic readings and political panel discussions.
MAY
🇵🇱 POST PORN ARTS FEST (PPAF), POLAND
📍 Warsaw 🗓️ May
An international festival focused on post-pornography, feminist art, queer theory, and body politics. Based in Warsaw, the event features independent film screenings, contemporary art exhibitions, performative activities, educational workshops, and panels that explore sexuality, desire, and resistance outside of mainstream media.
🇨🇭 PINK APPLE FILM FESTIVAL, SWITZERLAND
📍 Frauenfeld 🗓️ 7–9 May 2027
The regional edition of the festival, taking place immediately after the Zürich event. It brings a curated selection of the festival's international queer films and documentaries to audiences in Frauenfeld.
🇮🇹IMMAGINARIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, ITALY
📍Rome 🗓️ 8-10
It is Italy's first International Independent Film Festival dedicated to Lesbian and Feminist themes. Founded in Bologna in 1993 by the Cultural Lesbian Association Visibilia, it showcases international films directed by women, narrating the lives, culture, and history of lesbian and feminist women.
🇬🇷QUEER RANCH FESTIVAL, GREECE
📍 Skala Eressos, Lesbos 🗓️ 18-23
This non-profit festival blends five days of parties and culture with a vital mission. Enjoy top international electronic DJs, live music, and workshops while celebrating in a safe space centered on the queer lesbian community. All proceeds support an animal sanctuary, LGBTQ+ refugee solidarity, and other animal welfare charities on Lesbos.
🇪🇸VELVET IBIZA FESTIVAL, SPAIN
📍Palm Star hotel in San Antonio 🗓️21-25
Since 2015, Velvet Ibiza has been Europe's largest queer women's festival, offering music, dance, and community on Ibiza's beautiful beaches.
🇳🇱FEMMAZING FESTIVAL, NETHERLANDS
📍Amsterdam 🗓️ 24
This large-scale women+ only festival anticipates thousands of attendees, creating a safe and inclusive space for connection and celebrating femininity. Taking place on Pentecost Sunday (May 24th, 2026) at the waterfront venue IJland in Amsterdam, it features three stages with over 22 female artists and DJs, alongside activities, workshops, lounge areas, food, and cocktails.
🇬🇷MAGIC NIGHTS QUEER FILM FESTIVAL, GREECE
📍Skala Eressos, Lesbos 🗓️ 25-28
The Magic Nights Queer Film Festival is held under the stars in an open-air cinema on Skala Eressos, Lesbos. This year features the Brighton International Animation Festival's acclaimed "Queer as Fk" programme. Their selection explores contemporary queer culture – from trans identity and parental relations to cosmic kisses – through international narrative, documentary, and experimental animation shorts (including Taiwan, Argentina, Italy, the UK, and more).
🇮🇹SICILIA QUEER FILMFEST, ITALY
📍Palermo 🗓️ 25-31
The festival is held in Palermo to promote cinematographic culture and combat social discrimination. The program focuses on emerging talent, independent cinema, and unconventional or experimental films that explore new visual languages.
🇪🇸FULANITA FESTIVAL, SPAIN
📍Fuengirola, Málaga 🗓️ 28–31
Fuengirola, Spain, host a celebration of music, art, and community on the Mediterranean coast.
JUNE
🇧🇬SOFIA PRIDE FILMFESTIVAL, BULGARIA
📍Sofia 🗓️ 3-12
The Sofia Pride Film Fest is an annual LGBTIQ+ film festival held in Sofia, Bulgaria. It showcases international films focusing on LGBTIQ+ themes and stories. It's known for being the primary, and often only, such festival in the country, operating in a social climate that can be challenging for the LGBTIQ+ community. It's organized by the Bulgarian LGBTI rights organization "Deystvie" and is part of Sofia Pride.
🇮🇹SAFFFO FESTIVAL, ITALY
📍Rome 🗓️ 2026 Edition COMING SOON!
Founded in Rome in June 2022 by Marta Massarelli and Lucy Bellotti, the artistic collective Safffo (three f's) creates independent queer/dyke* spaces, offering an alternative to mainstream LGBTQIA+ nightlife. Safffo's events prioritize consent, freedom of expression, and artistic celebration, challenging stereotypes. They collaborate internationally with collectives like Magic Dyke* (Berlin).
🇩🇰THE INTERNATIONAL WEEK OF FEMØ, DENMARK
📍 Femø 🗓️ June 22 – August 16
Since 1971, Femø Women's Camp has been a global gathering for women on a scenic Danish island. Offering communal living and themed weeks with workshops (yoga, art, etc.), Femø welcomes diverse women, including mothers with children (boys under 12). Expect community, diversity, and a unique, returning atmosphere. The camp runs from week 26 to 33.
🇪🇸BONITA WOMAN FESTIVAL, BARCELONA, SPAIN
📍 Plaça Major de Nou Barris, Barcelona 🗓️ 26–28
Launched in 2023, Barcelona's Women's Festival is an event created by and for women. It was created from the need to establish a space where women was free to be themselves and express their identities authentically. The festival features a wide variety of national and international artists representing diverse musical styles, alongside sports, gastronomic experiences, artistic displays, and social gatherings.
🇮🇪DYKONIC: QUEER WOMEN + MUSIC FESTIVAL, IRELAND
📍 Dublin 🗓️ Something's coming June 27th
Run by queer/female volunteers across Europe, Dykonic is an independent festival dedicated to celebrating queer voices and underrepresented artists through music and community.
JULY
🇮🇹SHEROCCO FESTIVAL, ITALY
📍 Ostuni 🗓️ 1-5
This is a LGBTQIA+ festival in Ostuni, the south of Italy. It aims to promote queer culture, fight prejudice, and create a more inclusive environment. The festival uses events like shows, talks, and workshops, mainly targeting young people, to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
🇬🇧THE OUT & WILD FESTIVAL, UK
📍Devon 🗓️ 3-6
The UK's biggest wellness and experience festival for queer women and non-binary individuals, celebrating its 5th anniversary this year. Features dozens of live music acts, comedy, spoken word, and workshops focused on wellness and sport. Ticketed event with options for day passes, weekend tickets, and camping/glamping.
🇩🇪BERLIN LESBIAN & GAY CITY FESTIVAL; GERMANY
📍Berlin 🗓️ 18-19
Europe's largest Lesbian and Gay Festival, presented by Berlin's Regenbogenfonds e.V., returns to Nollendorfplatz. Explore 5 Festival Worlds (Film, Politics, etc.) and LGBTQ+ organisations.
🇮🇪 GAZE INTERNATIONAL LGBTQIA FILM FESTIVAL, IRELAND
📍Dublin 🗓️ 28 July – 3 August
Founded in 1992, GAZE is Ireland’s main LGBTQIA film festival. Over seven days, it screens more than 100 Irish and international features, documentaries, and short films at the Light House Cinema and the Irish Film Institute. The event includes industry panels, filmmaker workshops, and networking events.
AUGUST
🇫🇷LEZART FESTIVAL, FRANCE
📍Vicq-sur-Gartempe 🗓️ 21-23
Discover emerging lesbian, queer, and feminist artists in a supportive, participatory environment in Vicq-sur-Gartempe. Festive cultural weekend by ARTS et PERSPECTIVES. All are welcome!
🇪🇸ELLA INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN FESTIVAL, SPAIN
📍Majorca 🗓️ 27 augusti – 4 september
A festival that promotes the visibility and empowerment of queer women and non-binary people. Through art, music, culture, talks, and interactive workshops, ELLA creates an innovative community space where everyone can feel free, respected, and proud to be themselves.
🇩🇪DYKE* FESTIVAL BERLIN, GERMANY
📍Berlin 🗓️ 22-23
A multidisciplinary festival celebrating dyke* subculture in all its diversity—for lesbians, bi, queer, trans, and FLINTA* people. The weekend brings together dyke* artists, authors, and thinkers from across Europe. It is organized by Allesbien, a lesbian and bi-collective founded in 2022 whose goal is to create safe, empowering community spaces while celebrating dyke* culture.
🇳🇱 QUEER FILM FESTIVAL UTRECHT (QFFU), NETHERLANDS
📍 Utrecht 🗓️ 29 August – 5 September 2026
A volunteer-run festival dedicated to queer cinema. The program includes local and international film screenings, director Q&As, panel discussions, and workshops. Under the theme "Here, we are," this edition focuses on films that challenge traditional norms and present alternative futures. The festival also supports emerging talent through its "10 Minute Challenge" filmmaking competition.
SEPTEMBER
🏴OBAN LESBIAN+ WEEKEND, SCOTLAND
📍Oban, Scotland 🗓️ 3-7
Ninety miles west of Glasgow, think a marriage between a coastal holiday and a queer mini-festival. The program promises wild swimming, paddleboarding, and island cruises alongside workshops on topics like ADHD and vanlife. The entertainment consists of live music, comedy, and a traditional Scottish ceilidh dance exclusively for LGBTQ+ women and non-binary people.
🇬🇷LESBIAN FEMINIST FILMFESTIVAL, GREECE
📍 Kypseli Municipal Market, Athens 🗓️ 7–8
This is the 5th edition of the Lesbian Feminist Festival, takeover taking place at the Kypseli Municipal Market. Through documentary screenings, panel discussions, art, and live music, the festival explores the vital role of lesbian* and LGBTQI+ spaces and why preserving them is so important right now as they face the threat of urban gentrification.
🇬🇷THE INTERNATIONAL ERESSOS WOMEN’S FESTIVAL, GREECE
📍Skala Eressos, Lesbos 🗓️ 9-19
Hosted by Sappho Women in Skala Eressos, this 26th-anniversary celebration offers friendship, connection, learning, and empowerment . With live music, dance, art, trips, workshops, and more!
🇮🇪 PRIOSMA QUEER FILM FESTIVAL CORK, IRELAND
📍Cork 🗓️ 10–13
Presented by Out of Frame Cork, this four-day event is Cork’s dedicated queer film festival. It hosts a selection of international feature and short film screenings, industry talks, and collaborations with local community projects focusing on LGBTQ+ representation.
🇮🇹 MIX INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF LGBTQ+ CINEMA, ITALY
📍Milan 🗓️ 17–20
Running since 1986, MiX is Italy's leading LGBTQ+ film festival. The annual event screens independent queer features, documentaries, and short films, combining political engagement with a multidisciplinary approach that explores all aspects of queer culture.
🇫🇮VINOKINO RAINBOW FILM FESTIVAL, FINLAND
📍Turku 🗓️ 18–19
Vinokino is Finland’s only film festival dedicated exclusively to LGBTQ+ cinema. Held annually in Turku. The event showcases a curated selection of international features, documentaries, and short films highlighting diverse queer stories.
🇮🇹SOME PREFER CAKE, ITALY
📍Bologna 🗓️ 18-20
An international lesbian and feminist film festival held annually in Bologna. It showcases a program of independent features, documentaries, and short films from around the world. Beyond film screenings, the festival creates a space with director Q&As, debates, book presentations, art exhibits, and DJ sets.
🇳🇴 OSLO/FUSION FILM FESTIVAL, NORWAY
📍 Oslo 🗓️ 18–23
Founded in 1990, this is Norway's only film festival dedicated to the LGBTQIA2S+ and QTBIPOC communities. The event features international screenings, panel discussions, and events that focus on identity, gender, personal expression, and human rights activism.
🇵🇹 QUEER LISBOA, PORTUGAL
📍 Lisbon 🗓️ 18–26
Portugal’s longest-running film festival, established in 1997. It programs international and Portuguese queer cinema, featuring competitions for best feature film, documentary, short film, and queer art. The event includes retrospectives, director Q&As, debates, exhibitions, and performances.
🇨🇾QUEER WAVE: CYPRUS LGBTQIA+ FILM FESTIVAL
📍Nicosia 🗓️ 18–27
The only festival in Cyprus dedicated to LGBTQIA+ cinema. It screens international films that otherwise wouldn't reach the island, focusing particularly on underrepresented voices and regions lacking queer rights. Screenings and events are held across Nicosia, the UN buffer zone, and other cities, and include filmmaker Q&As, panels, and performances.
🇳🇱JANEY FESTIVAL, NETHERLANDS
📍 Contactweg 68, Amsterdam 🗓️ 26
Janey Festival, an annual Amsterdam event for women who love women (WLW) — meaning lesbian, bisexual, and queer women — returns to the iconic Thuishaven venue for its third edition. Running on Saturday from 13:00 to 23:00, the festival is about music, love, and freedom in a safe space.
🇪🇪FESTHEART LGBT+ FILM FESTIVAL ESTONIA
📍Tartu 🗓️ 25-27 September
📍Rakvere 🗓️ 2-4 October
Established in 2017, Festheart is the first recurring LGBT+ film festival in the Baltics. The event screens international features, documentaries, and shorts alongside public debates on queer rights and community activism.
🇸🇪CINEMA QUEER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, SWEDEN
📍Stockholm 🗓️ 28 September – 4 October
Since 2012, it has showcased queer films that challenge norms and broaden cinematic representation beyond the heteronormative. It serves as a platform for Swedish and international LGBTQ+ film, offering year-round events like school screenings and Pride showings.
OCTOBER
🇷🇴 ART200: INTERNATIONAL QUEER CULTURE FESTIVAL, ROMANIA
📍 Bucharest 🗓️ October (Dates TBA)
An independent festival in Bucharest dedicated to promoting queer art and cinema in Romania. The program features international and local film screenings, poetry readings, workshops, and concerts, focusing on intersectional identities and challenging stereotypes.
🇫🇷PARIS INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN & FEMINIST FILM FESTIVAL, FRANCE
📍 Espace Reuilly, Paris 🗓️ 30 October – 2 November
Organised by the Cineffable association, this annual women-only festival focuses entirely on lesbian visibility and self-representation. It showcases a variety of independent films, documentaries, and shorts directed by women, specifically curated for a lesbian audience.
🇪🇪FESTHEART LGBT+ FILM FESTIVAL ESTONIA
📍Rakvere 🗓️ 2-4 October
Established in 2017, Festheart is the first recurring LGBT+ film festival in the Baltics. The event screens international features, documentaries, and shorts alongside public debates on queer rights and community activism.
🇫🇮VINOKINO RAINBOW FILM FESTIVAL, FINLAND
📍Helsinki 🗓️ 16–17
Vinokino is Finland’s only film festival dedicated exclusively to LGBTQ+ cinema. Held annually in Helsinki. The event showcases a curated selection of international features, documentaries, and short films highlighting diverse queer stories.
🇧🇪PINK SCREENS QUEER FILM FESTIVAL, BELGIUM
📍Brussels 🗓️ 29 October – 8 November
Held annually at Cinema Nova, Pink Screens is a ten-day festival dedicated to alternative and experimental queer cinema. The program showcases an impertinent selection of international shorts, feature films, and documentaries that deconstruct gender and sexual binaries, complemented by art exhibitions and nightlife events.
🇩🇰MIX COPENHAGEN LGBTQ+ FILM FESTIVAL, DENMARK
📍 Copenhagen 🗓️ October 30 – November 8,
As one of the world's oldest LGBTQ+ film festivals, MIX Copenhagen is a non-profit, volunteer-run event that promotes visibility and diversity. The festival showcases a wide selection of international films, documentaries, and shorts exploring queer experiences, contemporary gender and sexual politics.
NOVEMBER
🇵🇹 QUEER PORTO, PORTUGAL
📍 Porto 🗓️ 3–7
An independent edition based at Batalha Centro de Cinema. It features its own multidisciplinary programming tailored to the northern city, combining Portuguese premieres with fictional, documentary, and short film competitions alongside educational activities.
🇨🇿MEZIPATRA QUEER FILM FESTIVAL, CZECH REPUBLIC
📍Prague & Brno 🗓️ 5–20
Mezipatra introduces around a hundred Czech and international films centered on LGBTQ+ issues, with the main program evaluated by a professional international jury. The festival draws around 12,000 attendees annually and features accompanying discussions, lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and regional echoes across the Czech Republic.
🇪🇸 QUEERCINEMAD: MADRID LGBTIAQ+ INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, SPAIN
📍Madrid 🗓️ 10–26
Formerly known as LesGaiCineMad (est. 1996), QueerCineMad is Madrid's premier International LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. Annually featuring over 100 films, panels, labs, and industry events, it remains a key reference for Spanish-speaking queer cinema.
🇦🇹QUEERTACTICS: QUEER FEMINIST FILMFESTIVAL, AUSTRIA
📍Vienna 🗓️ 11-15
Find further details on their website and Instagram.
🇬🇧OUTBURST QUEER ARTS FESTIVAL, NORTHERN IRELAND
📍Belfast 🗓️ 13-21
Outburst Queer Arts Festival in Belfast, is a curated week showcasing new queer art and culture. The festival focus on work that centres queer ideas and disruptive imagination, engaging with today's necessary conversations about sexuality and gender-personally, politically, and collectively.
🇫🇷CHÉRIES-CHÉRIS, FRANCE
📍Paris 🗓️ 14-24
Established in 1994, Chéries-Chéris is Paris’s premier international LGBTQIA+ film festival. Held annually in November, it showcases an extensive program of independent features, documentaries, and short films highlighting diverse queer cinema from around the world.
DECEMBER
🇷🇸 MERLINKA FESTIVAL, SERBIA
📍 Belgrade 🗓️ 3–6 December (Dates TBA)
Founded in 2009, this international queer film festival is held annually at the Belgrade Youth Center. Named in honor of murdered trans activist Vjeran Miladinović Merlinka, the event screens international features, documentaries, and short films to promote LGBTQ+ visibility in the Balkan region.
🇸🇮 SLOVENIAN LGBT FILM FESTIVAL, SLOVENIA
📍 Ljubljana 🗓️ 7–14
Founded in 1984, this is Europe's oldest LGBT film festival and Slovenia's oldest international film festival. Based at the Slovenian Cinematheque in Ljubljana, the event screens international independent features, documentaries, and shorts alongside public debates on queer rights and history.
