Since launching in 2020, the festival series – offering everything from day raves to pool parties – has secured its place within the Queensland queer community, thanks to a vibrant combination of inclusivity and LGBTQIA+ live entertainment.
Now making the move interstate for the first time, Hot And Steamy will be taking over iconic Melbourne venue The Timber Yard for a day of drag, DJs and global cuisine.
Attendees will also be able to support over 200 queer artists in the Gay Stuff Market, the beloved queer marketplace housed at the Victorian Pride Centre.
Keeping the ship on course are Hot And Steamy Founder Jason Penrose and Festival Director Trent Harlow, who has been with the organisation since day one while also serving as Creative Director of the Port Douglas Carnivale.
The decision to take Hot And Steamy nationwide was largely driven by logistics, as the growing popularity of the event had begun to outgrow Port Douglas' venue capacity.
“And the current climate,” Trent Harlow says wryly, “the weather is very, let’s say, hot and steamy. But it’s also tornadoes and all that sort of stuff, so we thought we would move her.”
Locations with more accommodating atmospheres were high on the pair’s administrative wish-list, though the similarly sun-soaked Gold Coast will serve as the organisation’s new base of operations going forward.
“In the meantime,” Harlow adds, “we are doing Hot And Steamy day parties at all the Pride seasons through 2026, starting with Melbourne. At the end of the day, we actually found it quite easy to move Hot And Steamy to Melbourne.”
With the new changes in setting making themselves known largely in relation to tropical humidity – and, certainly in Melbourne’s case, the lack thereof – the creative pair carefully sought to reevaluate what the festival might mean to queer folk elsewhere in Australia.
“The festival was surrounded by the weather in Port Douglas,” Harlow explains of the festival’s evocative name, “but we have changed that agenda now, looking inward. What makes the community ‘hot and steamy’ is your authentic self!”
On offer in Melbourne this summer are an outdoor lawn area, food trucks and samba dancers; as well as two stages, a boiler room-style dance area and a large warehouse which will host the main stage. The headliners this year include Kween Kong, Diloncé, Alfie, Bebe Babow and more.
“We also want to bring all sorts of art into this event,” Harlow says, “so we approached Gay Stuff Markets to be involved, to promote and support the local artists here in Melbourne. This is the first time I've worked with them, but I’ve seen them around Melbourne at a lot of events. They have some great artists who will be involved.”
The organisation’s mission statement, Penrose asserts, is to create a safe space for love and respect to shape the experiences of all who attend. “It's to celebrate the community, as such. That's not just the LGBTQIA+ aspect,” he says of the event’s ambition to contribute to all cities they are visiting, “but it's the whole community as these day parties, you know, evolve.”
At the heart of Hot And Steamy’s ambition to engage with queer communities across Australia, safety remains a key point of focus. Harlow alludes to the recent swing toward right-leaning attitudes against queer folk the world over, emphasising his desire to swing the pendulum back.
“We always want to find places and events that are safe for our community, especially with the world the way it is right now,” he says contemplatively. “So, putting on something that's going to bring joy to the community, bringing people into a space of respect, that’s what we really want to have.”
Another key element of the Hot And Steamy ethos is diversity – but the genuine, visible kind of diversity. What this means is a mandate under which every person can be themselves, without fear of incurring the ironic kind of judgement that often plagues the supposedly all-inclusive queer community.
Body-shaming and racism, assuredly, have no place here.
“Our cast of performers is diverse, our talent – you know, our DJs – are diverse,” Harlow explains. “It's not just what you’re going to see in every circuit party: it's going to be very diverse in terms of entertainment and things to do. Yeah, we just can't wait to show everyone what we’ve got in store!”
Hot And Steamy will be taking place on 25 January at The Timber Yard, in Port Melbourne.
