Eight days of tolerance without discrimination

Zagreb Queer Festival, an international festival of theatre, dance and visual arts, which in one way or another promote alternative sexuality and related tolerance without discrimination, is the leading art festival of its kind in Europe. Between 23 and 30 April, it will feature artists from around the globe, from Brazil, to South Africa to Japan.

Between 23 and 30 April, the biggest European queer festival, Zagreb Queer Festival, will once again be host to many world artists from different genres who promote tolerance towards alternative sexuality with their art. Zagreb Queer Festival is an international festival of theatre, dance and visual arts which promotes art and tolerance without any form of discrimination.

The festival was organized in Zagreb for the first time in 2003. Since then it has grown into the leading art event of its kind in Europe. The numerous art troupes that have come to the festival from all over the world have largely contributed to its success. Approximately 300 artists and associations, all of which are relevant participants in the contemporary movement for tolerance among people of all creed, colour or sexual orientation, have marched in the popular “Queer”.

Traditionally, this year’s festival will feature many world artists who will come to Zagreb from Brazil, Japan, Haiti, Mali, Cape Verde, South Africa, Israel, the USA, and many European countries.

As usual, the program will consist of various forms of artistic interpretation. There will be a lot of dancing, performances, art installations, plays, exhibitions and concerts, and all of them will tell a story of tolerance. 

Over the years, the strength of the Zagreb Queer Festival has significantly grown, exceeding the preconceived boundaries, so the festival does not only promote tolerance, but it has also become a platform for true excellence in art. It is an event which follows, interprets and creates those daring trends that openly speak about norms which are the fabric of society and artistic practices. 

The main organizer of the festival is the Croatian organization Queer Zagreb, whose members are also involved in many other incentives on top of this festival. As an addition to performing arts, they dedicate themselves to presenting a monthly film program called Queer Moments, which makes Zagreb one of the few cities in Eastern Europe with a regular, monthly program of queer cinema. Besides that, they publish books on alternative sexuality and tolerance, and in cooperation with other organizations they run numerous campaigns against homophobia.