Cabaret With Pride: Newcastle Fringe Celebrates Bold, Queer Joy on Stage

This year, the Newcastle Fringe Festival is turning up the glitter with a cabaret line-up that proudly celebrates queer artistry, unapologetic storytelling and the deliciously daring spirit the genre was built on.

Cabaret has long been a home for LGBTQIA+ voices - a space where gender bends, norms unravel and audiences are invited to laugh loudly and love boldly. In 2026, Newcastle Fringe continues that tradition with a program that centres queer performers, allies and stories that sparkle with authenticity.

Leading the charge is Australia’s queen of comedy cabaret, Dolly Diamond, bringing her smash-hit Tits & Teeth to town. Fresh from near sell-out seasons at the Adelaide Fringe, Dolly’s razor-sharp wit and velvety cabaret vocals promise a night that is bold, cheeky and gloriously unfiltered.

Also lighting up the stage is Skank Sinatra with My Way, a reimagined, rhinestone-studded tribute that queers the classics and serves them with sass, swagger and a knowing wink.

Burlesque lovers can revel in the lush, body-positive spectacle of Tutti Frutti Burlesque - a celebration of sensuality, self-expression and diversity in all its delicious forms.

For those who like their cabaret with a darker, late-night edge, Drive Thru Dreams, Late Night Regrets delivers after-hours storytelling steeped in mischief and memory, while Stage Fright en Kabarett leans into European cabaret traditions - theatrical, subversive and deliciously dramatic.

Rounding out the program is A Perfectly Normal Show - and as any Fringe-goer knows, anything described as “perfectly normal” probably isn’t. Expect the unexpected.

Festival organisers say this year’s cabaret strand reflects Fringe’s ongoing commitment to being a safe, welcoming and celebratory space for LGBTQIA+ artists and audiences alike.

Brooke Twyford, Newcastle Fringe Chair said, “We’re proud to platform artists who challenge, celebrate and delight - and to create spaces where audiences can feel seen, safe and free to be themselves.”

From drag royalty to burlesque brilliance, Newcastle Fringe’s cabaret program invites audiences to embrace the outrageous, the heartfelt and the hilariously, delightfully daring!

Because at Fringe, everyone belongs - and everyone gets a front-row seat.