To me, spring is about late, lazy breakfasts and early evening beers, being outdoorsy before summer drives you back in and spending your tax return on arts and entertainment. The Green Park beer lounge will always get my attention; except maybe on Sundays, when the experience becomes akin to immersing yourself in an overly groomed gay man ball-crawl. Two things in life are inevitable: sex and death. So why not see them both on display at the Botanic Gardens’ succulent exhibition of orchids and carnivorous plants. And when it comes to outdoor art, the Earth From Above exhibition at Darling Harbour is utterly awe-inspiring. This September the inner-west gets my vote with the Marrickville Cultural Festival; of course, anyone who is anyone will be attending the queerDOC festival sessions at the Dendy on King Street.

Lex Lindsay - Festival Director - Queer Screen

 

What I love about spring ... We homosexuals are a lot like annual plants. During the summer, we create an instant effect, blossoming and flowering into a wide range of vibrant shapes, colours and scents. But come winter, everything goes to ground, where we remain, in dormant hibernation. The bars quieten down, the beats are empty, and nude beaches are windswept, desolate places. As we creep from the undergrowth, pushing ourselves towards the skies, dance floors and saunas. It’s time to go sexing. Club Kooky will release a new compilation CD Kooky to celebrate 13 years of dedication to new queer music and queerer performance art. The club’s resident and founding DJs Seymour and Gemma will launch the disc around the country throughout spring, including the opening of the Feast Festival in Adelaide. Interested in ushering in this season’s homo revolution? Get your gay on at myspace.com/clubkooky

Seymour Butz - DJ (Club Kooky / Sauna Sessions)

 

Spring has finally sprung and the warming weather makes for a great partying season all over the country. In Sydney, much loved venue Manacle will hopefully find a new home by the time spring is out, and Sleaze Ball will be rolling through town in a very big way. But outside the traditional events, there are two new ones that are sure to shake the scene up a little bit more. Brand new summer festivals Fluffy Festival and Summer Gay Day will be taking the concept of a gorgeous summer music festival and hitting up Brisbane and Sydney respectively. Fluffy Festival is on Sunday November 18 in Brisbane, and Summer Gay Day is on Saturday December 1 at Kippax Lake in Moore Park, Sydney. Both festivals represent the new direction that the gay scene is moving at the moment – outside! And, to be honest, where the hell else would you want to be on a sunny day?

Tim Duggan - SameSame & FagTag

 

 

Kicking off the season is Sleaze Ball. For those who don’t know – and that probably ain’t many of you – Sleaze Ball is, as the name suggests, a night of sleazy fun and dress ups. This year’s theme is Zirkus which opens up a realm of possibilities. Spring in Sydney is a great time to get out and take a walk around the city. Start at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair and head around past the Opera House, Circular Quay, the Rocks and King Street Wharf before winding up at Cockle Bay Wharf for a well-deserved drink. Don’t forget the AIDS Trust of Australia’s, Sydney Food and Wine Fair in Hyde Park, October 27th, great food and wine and all for a good cause. For a weekend escape and recovery, head north to the Hunter Valley, Bimbadgen Estate has some great shows on this spring.

Brad Wright - Producer Mardi Gras

 

Spring is the time of the year when one must take time to smell the daisies … or the bears, since they’re out of hibernation; whichever you prefer! While the bears emerge into the sunlight in search of their next feed, what better time to check out a few cultural happenings around Sydney than springtime. Winter saw the likes of performance artists such as Orlan and senVoodoo in Sydney. Continuing into spring, Sydney will have the opportunity to see the performance artist Emily Harris with her latest piece entitled, funnily enough, ‘Feed’. Sydney is also lucky enough to have New York’s cabaret duo Kiki & Herb back in town. Whether it be night or day, this is the season for being social and I am definitely looking forward to some late nights at the Phoenix on a Sunday. Keep your ears to the ground for Berlin Slut Klub and Dorothy’s. Bring it on!

LOVERTITS - G.A.F.

 

Of course springtime means Sleaze time. Roll on the Zirkus! It always seems to coincide with the first warm night of the year so nobody need wear very much at all. And they surely won’t. What else? The boozy NYC chanteuse and piano man Kiki and Herb are back at the Opera House Studio and guaranteed to be high, rye and dry. Also not to be missed at the STC is Dickens Women with Miriam Margolyes, one of the world’s great character actresses and a thoroughly high-camp dyke to boot. Then off to the Hunter for Opera in the Vineyards on 20th October. Expect lots of gay boys and girls with hampers. And throughout Spring I’ll be found at Manacle most weekend mornings. Perfect whatever the season.

Damien Eames - Creative Strategy - New Mardi Gras