The mighty Outburst Queer Arts Festival begins this weekend, ready to take the city by storm with a thrilling and exciting range of the best in LGBT+ entertainment.

So what does it have in store for LGBT+ lovers of art? Here are just a handful of the excellent pieces to expect.

GAA MAAD, a spoken word spectacular about LGBT+ GAA fans, was a popular choice at the Dublin Fringe Festival and comes to the festival having won the Outburst Queer Fringe Award.

Sounding both utterly bizarre and completely thrilling, ABOMINATION, A DUP Opera, takes the homophobic words of politicians from Northern Ireland, cited as the most homophobic place in Western Europe, and sets them to live orchestral music.

(P)arty political broadcast on behalf of the Outburst Party. “Only 6 tickets left for Gala opening night, others 4 shows also now hotter than a wood pellet boiler.” Don’t miss out! pic.twitter.com/qBbfgmBw9o

— Outburst Arts (@OutburstArts) October 29, 2019

There’s a thrilling lineup of queer cinema including the much-heralded Cannes Film Festival award-winner Portrait Of A Lady On Fire which arrives on a wave of amazing reviews. Deep In Vogue, the electric documentary about Manchester’s ballroom scene is bound to make a splash, while there’s even a singalong Calamity Jane!

Oisín McKenna is taking his award-winning show ADMIN to Outburst Queer Arts Festival.

ADMIN is a story about love (“in some ways”) and money (“in many ways”), Oisín McKenna’s vivid and wry spoken-word performance sneaks up on you with exquisite, devastating honesty. Invoking wearisome woke posers, heartbreak, Theresa May, Abba, mental health, this is one of our favourite queer shows this year and one of the most reflective of the times we’re in.

One very special event which needs to be highlighted is The North Is Now. As the programme states: “In spring of this year, Dublin Fringe approached Outburst with the idea of making a zine with GCN for September’s Fringe responding to the desire of queer and reproductive rights activists in the South of Ireland to support those in the North.

“We had no idea that in a matter of weeks Westminster would vote – in the absence of an NI Assembly – to legalise same-sex marriage and abortion in the North. After the initial cautious joy and relief, our reaction was this: There’s more work to be done.”

Attendees can pick up a copy of the zine on the night and join contributors including ACT UP veteran Monica Pearl and nu-folk singer Danielle Carragher for conversation and music on art, activism and change.

There’s so much to choose from in the programme; you simply need to dive in and investigate!

Outburst Queer Arts Festival runs from November 8 – 16, visit their website to grab tickets.