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Birmingham Drag & Burlesque Festival

Thu 5 – Sun, 8 Nov 2026

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Birmingham Drag & Burlesque Festival 2026 — The Festival, and Where to Stay

Birmingham’s first drag and burlesque festival runs Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 November 2026 — four nights of drag, burlesque and cabaret from House of Allure, the collective Dominus Von Vexo has run since 2017. It plays out across the Old Joint Stock theatre, the Old Rep (the city’s oldest working theatre) and Eden Bar, with the headline Follies Grandé on the Saturday. Central, walkable, and worth a couple of nights if you’re coming in for it.

A first festival carrying itself like it’s been running for years — feathers, filth and proper showmanship, across some of Birmingham’s best stages. With the big nights falling across the run, it’s a trip worth coming in for, not a single show to dash home from.

The festival, mapped

The shape: Thursday eases in with an alternative life-drawing night and the Producer Panel. Friday is The Allure Games at the Old Joint Stock — part variety night, part bloodsport, performers scrapping for the crown. Saturday is the headliner: The Follies Grandé takes the Old Rep on Station Street, a hundred-year-old stage that earns the rhinestones. Sunday splits at Eden Bar — the sci-fi spectacle Worlds Away 2.0, then Backdoor 54, a Studio 54 afterparty that keeps going. Two big nights back to back: book the Friday and Saturday and stay over.

The Running Order

Where to stay for the Drag & Burlesque Festival

Coming in for the Drag & Burlesque Festival? The Village is compact, so stay close and the walk home is a stroll, not a saga. Three we’d actually book — all within five minutes of the action.

A double room at the Ibis Birmingham New Street Station hotel

Value, on the doorstep

Ibis Birmingham (New Street Station)

Standard Ibis, next to the Hippodrome, under five minutes to Hurst Street.

7.4 on Booking.com · 6,076 reviews

Book
A bedroom at the Radisson Blu Birmingham with its signature red bench

A step up

Radisson Blu (Holloway Circus)

Full-service, top of Hurst Street.

8.1 on Booking.com · 5,654 reviews

Book
A room at easyHotel Birmingham with its Birmingham-skyline mural and arched window

Budget done right

easyHotel (John Bright Street)

Clean, central, five minutes out.

7.5 on Booking.com · 5,290 reviews

Book

Hotel photography via Booking.com

Browse all Village hotels

Book early for the Drag & Burlesque Festival — the Village hotels fill fast around it.

Some links here are affiliate links — book through them and Brum Outloud earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only list places we’d stay in ourselves.

Getting here

The venues are central and walkable — the Old Rep is on Station Street by New Street, Eden Bar’s in the Gay Village, the Old Joint Stock a short walk into the Colmore area. Stay near Hurst Street and you’re a few minutes from all of it.

Eat & explore

The Village’s bars and drag scene are the natural wind-down between shows; the Chinese Quarter’s there for food, and the full running order is on this page. Official site: birminghamdragandburlesquefestival.co.uk.

Good to know

When is the festival?

Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 November 2026 — four nights.

Where should I stay for it?

Somewhere central near Hurst Street. The venues are walkable from each other and from New Street; the three hotels above keep you minutes from all of them.

What’s the headline night?

The Follies Grandé on the Saturday, at the Old Rep on Station Street — the city’s oldest working theatre.

How far are the venues from New Street?

Close and walkable: the Old Rep is on Station Street right by New Street, Eden Bar’s in the Gay Village, and the Old Joint Stock is a short walk into the Colmore area.

Is it just drag, or burlesque too?

Both — drag, burlesque and cabaret across the four nights, from House of Allure.

Watch the teaser

Birmingham Drag & Burlesque Festival teaser
Birmingham Drag & Burlesque Festival — TeaserHouse of Allure

Teaser by House of Allure · Watch on YouTube ↗

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