AUSTIN’S QUEER CREATIVES TAKE CENTER STAGE
Melissa Carper, Bboy Wicket, and Maxine LaQueene lead a free celebration of Austin’s queer music, drag, and art
Austin’s LGBTQ+ musicians, drag performers, artists, and makers take center stage on Saturday, September 26, when the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s 7th Annual Pride in Local Music® Showcase + Queer Artist Marketplace takes over Drinks Backyard, 6328 S. Hwy 183, as part of the inaugural The Big Queer Weekend.
The free community event brings together a broad cross-section of Austin’s queer creative community for an evening of live music, drag, art, local makers, food, drinks, and community activations. Free advance online registration is highly encouraged at BigQueerWeekend.com.
Presented by the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce and aGLIFF – Austin’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival, The Big Queer Weekend runs September 24–27 and combines four days of LGBTQ+ film, music, art, parties, and opportunities to connect across Austin.
THERE’S NO SINGLE SOUND OF QUEER AUSTIN
From old-school country and honky-tonk to indie pop, indie rock, and hip-hop, Pride in Local Music® showcases the breadth of LGBTQ+ artists shaping Austin’s music community.
Headliner Melissa Carper blends old-time country, bluegrass, western swing, jazz, and blues with observational songwriting and an unmistakably vintage voice. Dubbed “HillBillie Holiday” by Nashville musician Chris Scruggs, Carper draws deeply from American roots traditions while carving out her own place as a queer artist within them.
Austin-based Steph Cash brings Texas honky-tonk with an outlaw-country edge, pairing traditional storytelling with a classic sound built around fiddle and steel guitar.
Emerging indiepop band Painterly combines catchy contemporary melodies with personal songwriting exploring vulnerability, memory, loss, and emotional connection.
Led by queer Asian American singer-songwriter James Tabata, Austin indie rock band Maru Haru draws from J-Pop, math rock, classical music, indie folk, and video games. Their songs explore queer and Asian American identity, family, self-acceptance, and finding empathy within complicated expectations.
The showcase was developed with support from Austin singer-songwriter, music advocate, and producer Julie Nolen of OUTlaw Pride and Pearlsnap Entertainment, who worked with the Austin LGBT Chamber to book talent and produce the event.
“Queer musicians have, of course, always been a part of country music and every kind of music, whether people knew it or not,” said Melissa Carper. “I’m grateful to Julie and the Chamber for bringing all of us together for a night that celebrates queer Texas talent and being out and proud of who we are. There will be everything from country to indie rock, pop, drag, and dancing. We’ll be wearing our rhinestones and ready to party and celebrate with y’all for The Big Queer Weekend, Pride in Local Music!”
Together, the lineup reinforces a central idea behind Pride in Local Music: there is no single sound of queer Austin. LGBTQ+ musicians are creating across genres and traditions—and are an integral part of Austin’s creative economy.
BBOY WICKET CLOSES THE NIGHT
The evening culminates with a retro DJ set and live breakdance performance from Gabriel “Bboy Wicket” Jaochico, an internationally recognized breaker, DJ, and educator with more than three decades in hip-hop culture.
Since beginning his breaking career in San Francisco in 1991, Wicket has performed, competed, and taught worldwide. Now based in Central Texas, he teaches hip-hop culture and breaking at Texas State University.
His appearance also bridges the music and film programs of The Big Queer Weekend. On Sunday, September 27, he becomes the subject of the Closing Night documentary WICKET, chronicling his hip-hop career and deeply personal journey of coming out after 41 years in the closet.
The film will be followed by a live Q&A with Jaochico, director Lily Plotkin and producer Ryland Hormel.
See him perform Saturday night. Hear his story Sunday.
MAXINE LAQUEENE & FRIENDS BRING THE DRAG
Austin drag entertainer, trans activist and community advocate Maxine LaQueene will host Saturday’s festivities, joined throughout the evening by performances from Simone Riviera, Kelly Kline, Devonna St. James, Sirena Mirage and Solangel Vergara.
A fixture of Austin’s drag and nightlife community for more than a decade, LaQueene brings together entertainment and LGBTQ+ advocacy, making her a fitting host for an evening celebrating the many ways queer Austin creates, performs and shows up for its community.
QUEER ARTISTS & MAKERS JOIN THE CELEBRATION
The creativity extends beyond the stage with the Queer Artist Marketplace, featuring Austin-area artists, artisans, LGBTQ+-owned businesses and community organizations showcasing and selling artwork, jewelry, apparel, books, handcrafted goods and more.
Participating vendors include Nicky Tovar’s Little Art Show, Laura Marsh Jewelry, Pride Socks, The Little Gay Shop, OUTlaw Pride, Cedar Park Pride, BookWoman and others.
The Big Queer Weekend sponsors and community partners will also be on site with activations and experiences throughout the evening, including on-site HIV testing from AIDS Healthcare Foundation and signature Deep Eddy Vodka cocktails available for purchase.
The event takes place across the sprawling outdoor footprint of Drinks Backyard, featuring a large outdoor stage, 20-foot LED video wall, gathering spaces and on-site food trucks.
“Hosting the Austin LGBT Chamber crowd at past events has been such a great time, so we were super excited to welcome everyone back to Drinks Backyard for another big community celebration,” said Tim Lupa of Drinks Backyard. “Our place is built for events like this that bring community together to have a good time and make new friends. Pride in Local Music is exactly the Austin vibe events we love hosting.”
The Pride in Local Music Showcase + Queer Artist Marketplace is FREE and open to the public, with free advance online registration highly encouraged to help organizers anticipate attendance and communicate event information with guests.
Drinks Backyard is all ages until 8 p.m. and 21+ after 8 p.m.
LOCAL DOCUMENTARY THIS IS TEXAS ADDED TO THE BIG QUEER WEEKEND FILM LINEUP
Organizers also announced another distinctly Austin story to the Big Queer Weekend film program.
The award-winning documentary short This Is Texas: AGMC’s Journey to GALA, directed by Austin filmmakers John-Carlos Estrada and Zak Zeh, will screen immediately before The Dads on Friday, September 25 at 6 p.m. at Galaxy Theatres Austin.
The 23-minute documentary follows nearly 100 members of the Austin Gay Men’s Chorus as they prepare for and travel to Minneapolis for the GALA Choruses Festival.
At the heart of the film are the experiences of the chorus’s transgender members, including Finn McMillan, whose stories unfold against the backdrop of a state where their identities are increasingly politicized. Through intimate interviews, rehearsals, and performances, the film explores the emotional weight of visibility and how music can become more than art; it can become community, protection, protest, and power.
As the chorus takes the international stage, its performance becomes a declaration: we are still here.
This Is Texas received a Silver Telly Award for Social Impact and has been selected for LGBTQ+ and independent film festivals nationwide.
The short will be followed by the feature documentary The Dads, which follows fathers of trans and gender-expansive children as they navigate questions of family, safety, and standing beside their children amid a changing political landscape.
Following the films, Austin filmmaker and LGBTQ+ advocate Fiona Dawson will moderate a special community conversation with local leaders reflecting on the films and the experiences of trans and gender-expansive Texans and their families.
This is Texas
USA | 2026 | 23 minutes | English
Directors: John-Carlos Estrada & Zak Zeh | Cast: Finn McMillan, Karl Logue, Adrian J. Lancaster, Marlon Johnson, Armando Barrientos
Nearly 100 voices strong, the Austin Gay Men’s Chorus takes the international GALA stage to defend Texas trans youth. At its heart is Finn, a quiet trans singer who finds his courage and shows how music can rise as protest and power.
Scheduled to appear for a live Q&A: Director Zak Zeh and subject Finn McMillan
ABOUT THE BIG QUEER WEEKEND
September 24–27, 2026 | Austin, Texas
Presented by the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce and aGLIFF – Austin’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival, the inaugural The Big Queer Weekend brings together Austin’s queer creative community for four days of film, music, art, makers, filmmaker conversations, parties and community connection.
The film lineup at Galaxy Theatres Austin includes Opening Night selection Lady Champagne, with writer, director, and star D’Arcy Drollinger in attendance; The Dads; Billie Jean King documentary Give Me the Ball!; international documentary Out Laws, with filmmakers in attendance; the Queer Black Voices presentation of Assembly; and Closing Night selection WICKET, along with locally produced short films.
The full list of films and events is available at BigQueerWeekend.com.
PRIDE IN LOCAL MUSIC® + QUEER ARTIST MARKETPLACE
Saturday, September 26
Drinks Backyard
6328 S. Hwy 183, Austin, TX 78744
FREE | Advance online registration highly encouraged
BIG QUEER CREATIVES BRUNCH | SEPTEMBER 27
Big Queer Creatives Brunch
Sunday morning, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., on the Pool Deck at Hotel Indigo. Suggested $10 donation to enter; includes a breakfast taco buffet and an all-day pool pass at Hotel Indigo.
TICKETS: General admission tickets for individual film screenings are $20, with a limited number of Weekend Passes available for $50. The Pride in Local Music Showcase and Queer Artist Marketplace at Drinks Backyard are free and open to the public.
Tickets and complete festival information are available at BigQueerWeekend.com.
SPONSORS: SXSW, Justworks, Delta Air Lines, Deep Eddy Vodka, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Austin Energy, Crunch Consulting, PrismTone Entertainment, OUTlaw Pride, Austin Chronicle, Galaxy Theatres.
Additional support comes from a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.
About Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce
Founded in 1997, the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce serves as Central Texas’ largest hub for LGBTQ+ and allied businesses and organizations. The Chamber’s mission is to empower and strengthen the LGBTQIA+ business community and its allies through marketing, education, and community development.
As Texas’s oldest LGBTQ+ chamber, the Austin LGBT Chamber represents hundreds of small businesses, corporations, and nonprofit members committed to championing workplace equality and diversity. The Chamber hosts more than 80 events annually, advocates for economic opportunity and workplace inclusion, and fuels the next generation through the Austin LGBT Chamber Education Fund.
About aGLIFF:
Founded in 1987, aGLIFF is Austin’s longest-running film festival and became a 501(c)3 in 1995. The festival began as a four-day event with just four films primarily focused on coming out and the AIDS epidemic. It has grown into a multifaceted nonprofit organization with year-round community programs and events culminating each year in the annual film festival. Originally named the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival (1987), it now goes by simply aGLIFF.
Today, its all-volunteer board continues to curate independent films and community programming, ensuring LGBTQIA+ stories have a home on Austin screens. aGLIFF’s work is sustained by community contributions, sponsorships, and foundation grants.
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