Atlanta’s Lavender Fest is back this week with a third season built around queer stories that refuse to disappear. The five-day festival combines theater, comedy, drag and solo performance with an openly activist message, bringing a packed lineup to the city’s LGBTQIA+ arts scene.
The festival opens Wednesday with a kickoff celebration at the Atlanta Eagle before moving into four days of performances at Out Front Theatre Company. Lavender Fest’s official season lineup calls this year’s theme “Unerasable,” with nine productions scheduled through Sunday.
Queer Stories Take Center Stage In Atlanta
Festival director Ty Autry told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the theme grew from concerns about queer and trans history being erased from public life. Rather than endorse a candidate or campaign, Autry said the festival uses performance to make its position clear, framing the act of writing queer stories as resistance.
The lineup ranges from intimate solo work to broad comedy. Nick Eibler’s ManBoy explores coming of age, shame and the desire to be taken seriously as a queer person, while Billie Jane’s Then, Eve reworks the story of Eden through a queer lens. Markell Williams’ The F-Word uses comedy, confession and multiple characters to examine Black queer masculinity, church, survival and reclaiming a slur.
A Bigger Festival With More Money Flowing To Artists
Lavender Fest is also trying to make its growth mean something beyond a longer program. Autry told the AJC that the festival’s budget has tripled, allowing the organization to pay its artists while it builds a more durable revenue model.
The festival says 70% of ticket-sale revenue currently goes to artists, up from 60% last year, with a long-term goal of reaching 100%. Lavender Fest was founded in 2024 by Autry in collaboration with Out Front Theatre Company, and its first season drew about 650 people, according to the festival’s history of the event.
What To Know Before The Curtain Rises
The opening celebration takes place at the Atlanta Eagle, while the performances are hosted at Out Front Theatre Company. Out Front’s event listing identifies the festival as running Wednesday through Sunday and describes the program as a showcase for LGBTQIA+ artists from across the United States.
Along with the featured productions, the festival includes a new-play reading of Another Dimension Girl by Àse Freed and a live comedy taping by Atlanta performer Matthew English. The result is part theater festival, part community gathering and part declaration that queer Atlanta stories are not going anywhere.
