The group said sometimes “an uprising doesn’t always start with a megaphone”
Homotopia’s CEO Topher Campbell(Image: Topher Campbell)
One of the UK’s longest-running events is returning to Liverpool, with the promise it’s not “coming quietly”. Homotopia, an annual LGBTQ+ arts and culture festival, is once again taking over the city for a period of celebration come November.
Founded in 2003, this will be the festival’s 21st edition. As usual, you can expect everything from murals and drag to poetry and protest; however, this year is said to be bolder than ever with the theme of Uprising. The call to action will be centred around a “love letter to local resistance” while still uplifting local talent.
A spokesperson for Homotopia said: “We’re back this November for our 21st edition, and we’re not coming quietly. Homotopia Festival 2025: UPRISING is a rallying cry. A celebration. A defiant stand.
“Uprising means resistance. It means refusing to be silenced. It means showing up loudly, creatively, unapologetically in the face of systems that seek to erase us. And as the UK’s longest-running LGBTQIA+ arts and culture festival, Homotopia believes this moment calls for exactly that.
Clash of the Titans opened the 2023 Homotopia Festival(Image: Rob Brazier)
“Because uprising doesn’t always start with a megaphone. Sometimes, it starts with a paintbrush. A performance. A protest sign. A drag act in a pub, a zine in a backpack, a story told between friends.
“It starts right here in Liverpool – a city forged through dissent, solidarity, and working-class organising. It happens right now, in real time, as queer and trans communities resist, reimagine, and rebuild.
“This year, we’re platforming the boldest voices; artists, agitators, and visionaries, whose work lives at the intersection of art and activism. From Liverpool and the wider city region to communities across the UK and beyond, we’re spotlighting hyper-local creativity that speaks truth to power.”
This will be Homotopia’s second festival with Topher Campbell as its director and CEO. The Afro-Queer artist and filmmaker, who lives in the city centre, previously said in a time when the community are facing “a more hostile environment”, providing spaces that offer “community, dialogue, joy, and creativity for us and by us are essential”.
EAT ME previously took over the Williamson Tunnels for a weekend of queer celebration for Homotopia(Image: Homotopia)
The Londoner told the ECHO: “For many years Homotopia has been a leading force in Liverpool’s art scene through its annual festival and the brilliant artistic development strands Queercore and Young Homotopia.
“My plan is to expand on that vision by focusing on LGBTQ+ arts and culture all year round. I want Homotopia to be a vanguard in work by LGBTQIA+ artists nationally and internationally.
“I plan to attract big names as well as local talent. I want Homotopia to entertain, inspire and lead the conversation about what it is to be LGBTQIA + for all including people from the global majority and trans people.”
Topher came to the role with a reputation for curating and commissioning work that is urgent and relevant. As an award-winning artist, he has collaborated with the Mercury Music Prize Winners Young Fathers on FETISH, directed EastEnders, and been commissioned to create new works for Tate Modern and Somerset House.
Topher added: “Liverpool, with its rich heritage of music, culture and Black History, is a global city and the perfect environment for championing LGBTQIA+ culture.
“Homotopia is a jewel in the city’s crown and as such I hope to elevate and build on its national and international reputation for showcasing the best queer music, film, theatre, performance, visual art and fashion with fabulousness and bite.”