Brisbane’s iconic Big Gay Day has been postponed until 2027, with organisers saying the increasingly complicated — and expensive — reality of staging a major outdoor event meant this year’s party simply couldn’t be delivered the way it deserved.

Event organiser Harry K said it wasn’t an easy call to make.

“Sometimes the hardest decision is the right decision,” he told Star Observer.

“Big Gay Day has been such an important part of Brisbane’s gay landscape for 25 years, so the decision to postpone this year’s event until 2027 certainly wasn’t made lightly. I personally have been to pretty much every GAY DAY with my friends so I know first hand how important and amazing it is for our city.”

The annual Fortitude Valley street party celebrated its 25th instalment in 2025. Over the years, Big Gay Day has grown from a community celebration at The Wickham into one of Brisbane’s biggest LGBTQIA+ parties, while raising money for queer community organisations along the way.

Earlier this year, organisers announced plans to shift Big Gay Day from its traditional May date to the King’s Birthday long weekend on 4 October, reimagining it as a street party and taking the event “back to its roots”.

But Harry said the economics of throwing a party of that scale have become increasingly difficult.

“The reality is that putting on an event of this size and delivering it at the standard people expect has become increasingly complex,” he said.

“Costs have skyrocketed across the board and there are a number of other challenges that come with producing a major outdoor event in Fortitude Valley.”

Rather than put on a watered-down version of an event that has meant so much to Brisbane’s queer community, Harry said the team decided to give Big Gay Day some time.

“Rather than deliver a Big Gay Day that isn’t everything it should be, we decided the right thing to do was give it the time it deserves and look towards bringing it back bigger and gayer and more fabulous in 2027 and continuing its incredible legacy.”

But Brisbane is still getting a very big gay party

Thankfully, the gays are not being sent home to bed on the long weekend.

“But Brisbane isn’t going without a BIG GAY PARTY this year,” Harry said.

Instead, he’ll present the GAY OUT Block Party on Sunday 4 October, taking over the entire Wickham Hotel from 2pm–9pm before moving to The Warehouse for an official after party until the early hours.

The 2026 event was originally going to mark another change for Big Gay Day, with Harry previously telling Star Observer he wanted to take the party “back to its roots” after feeling it had gradually become more like a concert than the sprawling street party it began as.

We’ll just have to wait until 2027 to see what that reimagined Big Gay Day looks like.

Until then, the priority is, as Harry put it to us, to “KEEP BRISBANE GAY!”