Big Gay After Party ★★★★☆

Big Gay After Party: Queer Joy, Community and a Bloody Good Night ★★★★☆

Aiden Sadler has managed to do it again.

For the third year running, Big Gay After Party has carved out a much-needed queer space within the glorious chaos of the Edinburgh Fringe. What began as an idea on the other side of the planet has grown into a solid fixture of the festival: a place where visitors and locals alike can discover queer talent, celebrate community and, quite simply, have a bloody good night out.

This season there are only two Big Gay After Parties. So, if you’re reading this, you’ve already missed one and your next and final chance is 28 August.

The concept is simple but incredibly effective. Aiden pulls together queer talent performing across the Fringe and gives each artist a moment in the spotlight, offering audiences a snapshot of their shows. It becomes part variety night, part queer Fringe sampler and part late-night party and it works.

But what Aiden has created goes beyond entertainment. Big Gay After Party is a platform, a meeting place and, importantly, a safe queer space.

At this performance, more than £500 was raised to support members of the trans community with gender-affirming surgeries. That gives the night another layer of purpose: queer artists supporting queer audiences, who in turn support the wider queer community.

Name me another artist at the Edinburgh Fringe who is selling out shows, fundraising, championing queer performers and creating a space where our community can simply come together and celebrate.

Exactly.

Big, gay, joyful and genuinely important.

★★★★☆ 4 stars