Thank you to everyone who helped make Midsumma Festival 2025 such a success, and congratulations to all the award winners.
Homophonic! Pride Prize
Homophonic! brings the disco ball to the concert hall and celebrates the wonderful sound world of LGBTQIA+ composers today.
- Ashleigh Hazel, was the recipient of the 2025 Homophonic! Pride Prize, presented by Midsumma and Homophonic, for RESPECT pieces telling the stories of LGBTIQ+ seniors in song, and established works from super gay icons of classical music. Performed by Jacob Abela.
Midsumma and Australia Post Art Award
Since its inauguration in 2016 the Midsumma and Australia Post Art Award has quickly established itself as an important award in the ecology of the arts. With finalists selected from across the country, the non-acquisitive annual award is a survey of outstanding queer artists working across mediums reflecting their potent personal and political perspectives on the world.
- The overall 2025 Midsumma and Australia Post Art Award winner was Chris Ferric with "Saint Jo, Scribe of Our Souls" (2023–2024)
- The Bundoora Homestead Art Prize winner was Pia de Bruyn for “Female Trouble” (2019-2024)
- The 2025 People's Choice Award winner was shared between Gabe Love for Transient (2023) and Raphy for Devil in a Cabinet (2024)
See all the 2025 Midsumma and Australia Post Art Award Finalists.
Midsumma Pride March Awards
★ Peter Dewildt Award - Most Significant Message - awarded to the group with a timely and well-conveyed message: Minus18 plus an honourable mention to Queer Arabs
★ Most Fabulous - awarded to the most fantastically-frocked group: City of Melbourne Highland Pipe Band plus honourable mentions to Rainbow LARP and Scouts Victoria
★ Most Innovative - awarded to the cleverest group in the march: Museums Victoria (homo of the dinosaurs) plus an honourable mention for Queer South Asians of Melbourne
Queer Playwriting Award Showcase
The annual Queer Playwriting Award Showcase is a collaboration between Gasworks Arts Park and Midsumma Festival. Four works are selected by an industry panel and invited to present a 15 minute staged reading at Gasworks Arts Park as part of Midsumma Festival. The work of one of the finalists is selected to receive ongoing support and development with a view to becoming a full-scale work to be presented in the following Midsumma Festival or beyond. The ultimate aim of the Queer Playwriting Award is to tour the work nationally to expose it to a wide range of metropolitan, regional and rural audiences. Winner to be announced soon!
The Pearl Prize
The Pearl Prize is presented with Osborne and Fawkner Publishing and supported by Midsumma Festival — a writing award where Queer writers have a platform for self-expression through the writing landscape and into publication. The publication featuring the works from the fifteen finalists is available to purchase from the Midsumma Closet.
- 2025 Pearl Prize Award Winner: Niko Satria
