Drag, drama and dozens more attractions will mark the return of the North East's award-winning "queer arts festival".
The Curious Festival is out to create its biggest LGBTQ event yet this summer and its upcoming 10-day programme has all the ingredients to help it succeed.
With its focus on celebrating the region's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning culture through the arts, the festival will be serving up a packed line-up of entertainment from June 30 to July 9, ranging from drag storytelling to a Curious Vogue Ball taking place at Dance City in Newcastle .
There will be lots going on across the city but also events spread far and wide, including in Gateshead; Middlesbrough; Stockton; Darlington; Sunderland and South Shields.
And these will range from theatre and performances to film and photography exhibitions - and even a classical concert.
The Curious Festival is run each year by local not-for-profit organisation Curious Arts and is now it its fourth year.
Billed as the "largest Queer arts festival in the North, its 2019 line-up is also promising something for all ages from three upwards.
At Seven Stories, the centre for children's books in the Ouseburn, there will be a special take on all the current local Elmer-theme events which include the venue's exhibition about the popular rainbow elephant character and also the upcoming Elmer's Great North Parade .
Curious is staging an Elmer’s Special Drag Strut event at Seven Stories which will feature guest appearances from drag performers Gladys and Ben who in July also will be touring their show Spectacular Drag Storytime.
A Drag Storytime session also will feature at this year's Northern Pride festival where Curious Arts is to host its own stage for the first time to present family entertainment over the July 19-21 run.
Other Curious Festival highlights will include work by LGBTQ artists of colour and events by and for young people, including Curious, a show featuring performances by 14 to 25-year-olds and taking place at Live Theatre on the festival's June 30 launch.
Other Newcastle theatres are also in on the act.
Alphabetti Theatre will be hosting performances exploring gender identity as well as welcoming artists from outside the region, including two Edinburgh Fringe previews: Harry Clayton-Wright debut of Sex Education and Lucy McCormick's song and dance show Post Popular.
And up at Northern Stage, Rent Party will be creating what's described as “a kaleidoscopic picture of what it means to be young, gifted, black and poor, and gay”.
The range of entertainment also includes Baltic art gallery, across the river, presenting live-art performances including the world’s first drag troupe featuring drag queens and kings with Down’s Syndrome, while the adjacent Sage Gateshead will close the festival in style on July 9 with Royal Northern Sinfonia performing classical chamber music by LGBTQ composers throughout the ages in a show compered by 'Marlene Dietrich'.
Curious Arts has a range of supporters and partners including new-joining venues such as ARC Stockton and Middlesbrough Theatre as well as GemArts; Theatre Hullabaloo and Tyneside Cinema.
For the full range of what will be on offer during the festival see here .
