13 fabulously queer things to discover at Homobloc
Homobloc returns to the Depot Mayfield in Manchester on Saturday 4 November
The UK’s biggest queer rave, Homobloc, is back for a fourth sensational year featuring an almighty line-up of DJs and performers. From singing superstars like Jessie Ware to Romy via Confidence Man, via DJ megastars like David Morales and Blessed Madonna, it’s the wildest, biggest, maddest club clash of LGBTQ+ excellence the UK has ever seen.
Homobloc will also once again return to the Depot Mayfield in Manchester across all three stages for the event which is set to take place on Saturday 4 November.
And Attitude is a proud media partner! Here are 13 off-the-wall moments those heading to Manchester for the weekend can expect to discover…
CLUB ZINDAGI & HOUSE OF SPICE
Asian-led, LGBTQ+ club night, Club Zindagi, has been an influential part of Manchester’s queer culture for over twenty years. Known for playing the latest in Bollywood, Bhangra, Arabic, RnB, Hip Hop & Dance, they’ll be uniting on the evening with the fabulous South Asian and Middle Eastern artist and performance house, House Of Spice. Through their campaigns and performances, they slay, elevate, and show the world they exist.
MR BEAR GRAN CANARIA
LGBT+ Charity Worker, GoGo bear, performer, model, and actor Mr Bear Gran Canaria 2023 has it all. This year’s Mr Bear Gran Canaria, Ruiari, will be donning his sash and strutting his stuff on the Homobloc catwalk, along with legendary party collective The F*** Pigs.
POST-PUNK – CUMGIRL8
Homobloc is taking the legendary Homo Squat a.k.a. The Star & Garter Pub, in an adventurous new musical direction this year. The hidden and historical boozer will host post-punk rock, gender fluid, and sex-positive, multi-media arts collective cumgirl8. Hailing from Brooklyn, their incendiary live performances are brilliantly chaotic and emblematic of the spirit of New York performance art.
ACOUSTIC MUSIC – BAY BRYAN
Bay Bryan is a singer, songwriter, and performance artist based in Manchester, originally from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado (USA). Introducing new sounds and textures for 2023, his music has been compared to Laura Marling, Sam Lee, and Nick Drake. You can catch Bay in the rooftop cinema for a very special acoustic performance.
DRAG KINGS OF MANCHESTER
The vibrant community group dedicated to supporting drag kings in and around Manchester will make its Homobloc debut this year. Drag Kings Of Manchester welcomes drag kings, fans of the performance art, and anyone interested in exploring the world of drag. They’ll be joining queer Manchester hero Kath McDermott on the roof.
LUPAE
First inspired by the queer scene of Manchester in 2008 and eventually founded in Berlin in 2017, gender fluid Berlin-based fashion show, LUPAE, approaches latex as a chameleon armour for queer and fluid expression, transcending the community from day-to-day realities into the fantasies they desire.
SEXUAL HEALTH TESTING
After the success of its introduction at the 2022 event, Homobloc will be offering on-site sexual health testing again this year, with tests conducted by staff from LGBT Foundation. Homobloc guests will be able to get a dry blood spot test which will test for HIV, Hepatitis, and Syphilis, enabling people from satellite towns with poorly funded sexual health services to have a full sexual health screening on site.
NEURODIVSITY SPACE & WELFARE
Another first for Homobloc, a new space in Depot Mayfield will provide a safe, low-level stimulation area for the event’s neurodivergent audience, who may need to take a break and recalibrate from the audio and visual stimulation of the festival. Homobloc is also accredited with Good Night Out – a campaign to prevent sexual harassment in nightlife, the team will be working with W.E.L Safe and Manchester’s the Village Angels to provide a visible roaming wellbeing team, offering frontline help from the dancefloor.
ROOFTOP MARKETPLACE
The new roof space welcomes an intimate takeover from Horse Meat Disco and hosts an array of programming, including The Fetiish Market – an array of independent LGBTQ+ designers in a unique pop-up marketplace, selling everything from fetishwear to high fashion. Northern Quarter boutique Suzie Loves Milo, famous for their streetwear and vintage clothing, will be selling responsibly sourced items handpicked specially for the event.
HOMOBLOC TV
Those who missed out on a ticket can still get a piece of the action by tuning in to Homobloc TV, with roving reporter Lill who will be combing the nooks and crannies of the festival site to deliver tales from the crowd and backstage. Homobloc TV will stream live on TikTok during the event.
TALKS & PODCASTS
In the cinema space, Homobloc will discuss areas around rainbow racism, ageism, and safety on the dancefloor, for both artists and audience. Homobloc Podcasts will then use this for a series to be released in 2024. Drag Race UK’s Cheddar Gorgeous will facilitate a number of the conversation sessions, connecting with artists from the festival line-up for discussion around music, nightlife, and dance floor politics.
VISUALS & ART GALLERY
To further heighten clubbers’ experience, Homobloc has honed in on the visuals this year, working with activists to display documentation of queer nightlife through the decades. You can also check out digital art, both behind the artists on the main stage and in the rooftop space and cinema complex. Expect handpicked pieces that tell a story of queer nightlife, activism, and pop culture.
The PRE-PARTY!
Ahead of the main event, Homobloc is hosting a very special pre-show at YES (Pink Room) on Friday 3 November performing tracks from their Debut EP, fresh off the back of the Werq The World tour. Bimini will be joined by Toronto-based artist Debby Friday who will bring her mixture of synth punk, industrial hip-hop, deconstructed club, and left-field pop to the YES Pink Room. Prized as the go-to underground circus, TaliaBle is a rising North London-based musician and visual artist, who describes her own lyrical style as ‘dysfunctional rap’. Catch her on the night alongside Monopoly Phonic – a gender-genre-fluid musician from Manchester known for a string of streamable bops and cutting-edge pop party, Girls Night Out. Tickets here.
For tickets and to check out the full lineup click here.