•• Queer Haggis ••

Queer Haggis is a celebration of LGBTQIA culture in rural Scotland and has taken about eight years to develop with the community. It reflects the curation of queer culture every year, as well as participation model which has included the development of Drag.

The show is presented in a rural area and has led to a resurgence in queer culture in the local area, including a new Pride Festival, and a new Queer Newspaper and the growth of Drag culture in Dumfries & Galloway, leading to a Queer Platform at one of Scotland’s coolest boutique Music Festivals

Queer Haggis has showcased a total of 46 different artists in one of Scotland’s most remote locations, as well as championing and developing the work of 12 different local artists who have developed performance projects as a result of the Queer Platform.

It took a balance of sensitivity and patience to be able to develop the language and tone of voice for this work, as well as a steely determination and a lot of balls! You can read the Essay by Dillon Colthart on Queerness, Rurality & Performance which is a research paper he conducted with the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, centred on our work,

In 2018 – Queer Haggis opened the Big Burns Supper Festival in a bold statement hoping to reverse under-represented culture at the heart of our celebration. The impact could be felt as far away as Holyrood and helped to develop huge legacy through our curatorial vision.

We are regularly asked to talk about the unique partnership model that has led to the development of Queer Haggis.

The Journey

Wonderland (2011-2012) The story begins as the local authority commission us to deliver an iconic issue based immersive experience at Scotland’s largest Youth Festival. We create a Drag Queen to challenge the perceptions of the young people who experience it. The performance plays to 876 young people in 2011, and a further 1200 young people in 2012.

LGBT Choir (2013)

We were commissioned by LGBT Dumfries & Galloway to deliver a community music programme that was exclusively designed for the community and their friends. With the help of Dumfries Community Choir we ran sessions for 38 adults over a six week period. This performance at Eden Festival shows the incredible community that surrounded the project.

Away from Home (2015)

We were on a roll now but we still knew that there were lots of people in our community that we were not accessing. We decided to curate a play about Gay Footballers, opening up the mystery surrounding homosexuality in the game which played to sold out audiences during it’s run at the 2015 Festival.

Queer Haggis (2017)

We finally took the plunge and pulled it all together into one hot, steamy cabaret show which included local performers as well as major names from across the globe who would help us make this the queerest night north in Scotland ever. Jonny Grundy was one of the first collaborative artists who helped us create the magic that is Queer Haggis.

Queer Haggis 2018

We definitely stepped things up a notch and we created a blend of artists that would help raise the roof on the Spiegeltent whilst allowing our still shy audience the space and time to take it all in. Alfie Ordinary blew us all away with his tiny little organ.

Queer Haggis (2019)

We welcomed a heavy roster of International talent to Dumfries, including legendary performer Dave the Bear to a sold out audience in the Spiegeltent. We curated a unique Cabaret venue at Eden Festival, and also presented a special Pride Edition in September, as well as using our artistic muscle to curate Queer work in Carlisle Fringe!