The European festival for LGBTQ+ choirs 'Various Voices' will be organised in Brussels in June 2026, when as many as 120 queer choirs will be singing for an open and inclusive society.
The festival takes place every four years in a European city and is organised by a local amateur choir. In 2026, it will be the turn of 'Sing Out Brussels!'
Registration for the choirs, which opened in September 2024, has already closed. The festival has reached maximum capacity, with 120 choirs registered from 19 different countries: Germany (32), the United Kingdom (26) and the Netherlands (12) will be the most represented countries.
The other countries are France (8), the United States (7), Switzerland (6), Belgium (5), Spain (4), Ireland (4), Finland (3), Poland (2), Italy (2), Denmark (2), Iceland (1), Estonia (1), Norway (1), Slovenia (1), Czechia (1) and Ukraine (1). Ten choirs are also on the festival's waiting list.
Let your heart be heard
The choirs bring together some 5,000 singers: between 4,000 and 4,500 of them are expected to take part in the festival, which will be held from 24 to 28 June 2026. Registration is currently underway.
The festival will take place in several prestigious venues in the centre of Brussels: Bozar, Cirque Royal, the Madeleine and Auditorium 490 (in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts). The choirs will also be reaching out to the general public with free street concerts and open-air performances on the Mont des Arts.
The slogan of the Brussels festival is 'Let Your Heart Be Heard' – which is also the title of the festival anthem. It will be performed during the event by all the participating choirs, in association with Belgian choirs from a variety of backgrounds.
By singing together in the capital of the European Union, the choirs send a strong message to countries where the LGBTQ+ community faces repeated attacks.
This festival and the LGBTQ+ choirs play a major role in promoting the inclusion and visibility of gender minorities. Their presence over five days in the capital will bring the city to life and have a major economic impact on tourism. That's why visit.brussels is partnering with the event and assisting the organising team with communications and the preparation of public events. The festival has also just received the support of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
