Sing Out Brussels! recently travelled to Bristol, UK to take part in the UK & Ireland’s biennial LGBTQI+ choir festival, Hand in Hand, from 16 to 18 August 2024.
We first heard about Hand in Hand while connecting with Bristol-based choirs at Various Voices Bologna 2023, the last edition of Europe’s largest LGBTQI+ choir festival. The Hand in Hand organisers were keen to keep in touch with us as hosts of the next Various Voices, and eventually asked if we might like to join them in Bristol to pass the baton. We were delighted to receive the invitation and travel arrangements were soon underway. Alongside over 40 other choirs, we sang, connected, learnt from each other and partied the night away. We were honoured to have been invited as the host of the next European festival, Various Voices, and our festival team took lots of notes about what made Hand in Hand such a great success.
A delegation of around 35 singers representing Sing Out hopped over the channel to get involved in the festivities and soon fell in love with the vibrant, diverse city of Bristol. Our artistic director, Simon Paco, came along for the ride, notebook in hand, eager to learn as much as possible as part of their role in planning the showstopper events of Various Voices Brussels 2026.
Both Sing Out’s main 30-minute concert and the choir’s shorter set as part of the Saturday Gala took place in the newly refurbished Beacon Hall. This flagship 1800-seat venue has been renovated to the highest standards of acoustics and comfort, and it was a truly magical experience to take to the stage.
We of course attended plenty of concerts, hearing ‘genre-fluid’ music from choirs large and small. But queer choir festivals are about so much more than the music. Sing Out members took part in workshops on topics such as welcoming trans singers and developing heritage projects, while also meeting singers from across the UK and Ireland at a pub-style quiz, a ‘ceilidh’ dance, and nightly DJ sets. We basked in the queer joy and had the most fabulous weekend.
Thank you Bristol! We can’t wait to see you at Various Voices Brussels 2026.