Shout Festival

16/04/2026

It is firmly spring and we have a tantalising line up of people sharing work and talking all things bodies. This month of 'Talk of the town' is BUILT DIFFERENT. Custom settings. No factory reset. April 28th,7pm at The Edge in Digbeth. Come through!

🩵Free tickets: https://ow.ly/Zu5o50YKkvO

ToTT provides the conditions for having a go and seeing what lands. We are a no frills, held space that has been cultivated to ensure the heady mix of connections and experimenting are always live.

Shaniece Martin (she/her), is offering us up Between Homelands. Shaniece is a poet and researcher exploring identity, memory, and the idea of "mental return" - writing that moves between homelands, histories, and the self.

Troy Kamangala (he/him) is bringing I Love It. Troy is just preserving.

Solaris (they/them) is offering us The Trans Body: A Site of Freedom. Solaris is a gender bending drag q***r rebel pushing boundaries with charm and charisma.

Cake Boi (they/he) is back again, and this is treating us to, Layer Cake. Cake Boi is flour, eggs, almond milk, one crushed OXO beef cube, a sq**rt of honey. Baked for at least 2 days and spit roasted before serving.

Alexus Savage (she/her), is sharing a little something. Alexus spends too much time waiting for cancelled trains to have anything approaching a social life. She is a comic book fan, some time writer, and all round good egg.

13/04/2026

Over the past few weeks, our Trans Masc Brum group have been busy creating our patch for Good Law Project Trans Unity Quilt 🧵

Our patch has depictions of trans euphoria, existence, and resistance, it carries the slogan Trans Masc Brum and Everywhere. 🏳️‍⚧️🐂

Trans people exist in euphoria and persecution, we are in the wrinkle lines of those who came before us, in the bottles behind the labels, we exist even in the hours we do not know ourselves, in this life and the next we will be trans.

Inspired by the history of textile protest art, the Trans Unity Quilt is a giant patchwork made by and for trans people across the UK. The final quilt will be marched through the capital with London Trans+ Pride, then travel the country. ✊

26/03/2026

Talk of the town~ BUILT DIFFERENT. Custom settings, no factory reset.
28.04.26 @ The Edge, Digbeth. Hosted by Hassan Hussain
🫧Free tickets: https://ow.ly/fmuq50YyIXW

Who are we? We’re your q***r night where oversharing is encouraged, hot takes are protected and vibes are championed.

Whether you’re a seasoned performer or someone who’s only ever trauma-dumped in a kitchen at 4am—you belong here.
⚡️Apply to perform: https://ow.ly/Nm1H50YyIXY

20/03/2026

Every Brummie has a story.

Maybe it’s your favourite park, your local chippy, the music you grew up with, or the people who make your street feel like home.

💛 We want to hear YOUR story.

Take a moment to tell us what Birmingham means to you — what makes it special, what you'd like to see, and what you’re proud of.

20/03/2026

🌻🌹🌳 We have some amazing creatives for Trans Day of Visibility at Martineau Gardens on the 29th March from 3-7pm. During the event we will have food, plenty of time for socialising, manifesting, and collage. Ticket link in bio!!!!

Bodhi (they/them) will be working on helping us whip up and share our dreams utilising collage. Bodhi is a theatre director, facilitator, and Dramatherapy MA student. Their work centres the arts as a form of resistance to oppressive systems that suppress the creative energy of q***r and trans people of colour.

Hazel (she/they) will be providing gorgeous prompts, and helping us gather our thoughts as we manifest-o our way together! Hazel is an artist, researcher & producer from Brum. She makes things to help disabled & q***r communities thrive.

Their work and what we do will be the starting point for considering the start of a Birmingham Trans Manifesto- we hope to share this as it develops over the year. 🌻🌹🌳

12/03/2026

We have a hot and heavy lineup for the return of Talk of The Town. This month is SOFT LAUNCH/HARD REVEAL. Closets are temporary. Drama is real. Catch us on the 17th March, 7pm at The Edge in Digbeth.

Our relaxed, raw, and ready sharing space held by the gorgeous Hassan Hussain. Hassan (he/him) is a writer, lecturer, and cultural facilitator. Having recently completed a PhD investigating the de/construction of gay men in contemporary British theatre, his practice explores the transformative effects of (q***r) histories and lived experiences on present and future iterations of (q***r) identities, communities, and (sub)cultures.

Dr. Gemma Edwards (she/her) will be presenting, Rural Ga(y)ze . Dr. Gemma Edwards is a Lecturer in English Lit at BCU, she's published widely on radical regional performance cultures; historian by trade; & loves a bev.

Josh (he/him) is sharing, What Stayed. Josh is a writer, q***r volunteer, HIV activist and houseplant enthusiast.

Rupinder (she/her) will be gracing us with Amrita Sher-Gil and Frida Kahlo split a blunt . Rupinder Kaur Waraich is a multidisciplinary artist exploring the meeting point between language and the body. Her latest collection, Tigress with Wings, has just been published by Seren Books. (seriously go check it out!)

Kamil Mahmood (he/him) is trusting us with Funcle. Kamil Mahmood is a poet, thinker and bearded baddie whose work explores q***rness, power dynamics and contradictions of the zeitgeist.

SpitXL (he/him) will be honouring us with Real Rude. SpitXL is a Producer, Curator, Artist and all round gobsh*te.

You know the drill by now, tickets in bio. Grab them whilst they are there because we know this night has everything going for it- come bring yourselves, a tin, and let's hear the Talk of The Town.

02/03/2026

Birmingham, we’re baaaaack – did you miss us? because we missed you!
Following a sold-out, soft-chaos, heart-on-sleeve first run, Talk of the Town returns with six brand new themed nights – deeper, sharper, but still v much giving gossip-with-your-huns-on-a-random-Tuesday kind of vibe.

For those that are new here (or might have forgot), this is your q***r night where oversharing is encouraged, hot takes are protected and vibes are championed.

We might be biased but—Season Two goes bigger. We’re talking identity plot twists, holy contradictions, body politics, rage that builds, q***r lineage, and the villages we had to build from scratch. Free tickets: https://ow.ly/h8ip50Yn4WP

Whether you’re a seasoned performer or someone who’s only ever trauma-dumped in a kitchen at 4am—you belong here. Apply to perform: https://ow.ly/VXC150Yn4WR

09/02/2026

16/12/2025

Our invited speaker for tonights Talk of The Town is the wonderful Natasha Taheem, an artist we have worked with this year and supported as an artist in residence!

🪄“A le***an love letter to Khichdi”
Natasha is a visual artist whose practice focuses on drawing and printmaking and is founder of Q***r Mehndi Nights a monthly event for LGBTQ+ South Asians in Birmingham.

💚 Talk of the Town - Live, laugh, ̶s̶u̶r̶v̶i̶v̶e̶ love: The Q***r Graft
Tonight, 7pm The Edge Digbeth
Created, hosted & facilitated by Hassan Hussain

⛓️‍💥Ticket link and event info: https://www.outsavvy.com/event/27985/talk-of-the-town

12/12/2025

💚 Talk of the Town - Live, laugh, ̶s̶u̶r̶v̶i̶v̶e̶ love: The Q***r Graft
16th Dec, 7pm @ The Edge, Digbeth
Created, hosted & facilitated by Hassan Hussain

🪄“A S**t Sandwich ” Daniel Brown
Daniel is a q***r event producer that has been creating in the city for over 10 years.

✨“ Looking for Dudley ” Albert Smith
Albert Smith is a stand-up comedian, who found his voice through comedy after battling mental health issues.

💫“Magic Bird of Fire” Eric Scutaro
Venezuelan choreographer, dance performer and LGBTQ+ and HIV activist, refugee in Birmingham; trailblazer in Waacking and Voguing.

⛓️‍💥Ticket link and event info: https://www.outsavvy.com/event/27985/talk-of-the-town

24/11/2025

🩷 Talk of the Town - Live, laugh, ̶s̶u̶r̶v̶i̶v̶e̶ love: The Q***r Graft
Tuesday 16th December, 7pm at The Edge
Hosted and Facilitated by proud Birmingham Bab Hassan Hussain

This night honours the hustle, the heartbreak, and the heroic effort it takes to keep q***r life going. It’s a love letter to the grafters — the ones keeping it all stitched together with late nights, community spreadsheets, last-minute favours, and fierce-as-hell commitment. Bring your tales of protest, persistence, burnout, brilliance, and the jobs (paid or not) that shaped your q***r world.

Talk of the Town is a q***r open night where the personal, political and petty all collide — a space to share the too real, the too funny, the too tender, the too much. It's less tumbleweed open mic night vibe— it’s giving more gossip with your babs at the smoking area, plus a mic & a cute audience.

⛓️‍💥TICKETS:https://www.outsavvy.com/event/27985/talk-of-the-town
🪄 Interested in sharing? https://shoutfestival.co.uk/upcoming-events/