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Alice Springs is a remote town that’s slap bang in the centre of the country, miles from the bright lights of Sydney and Melbourne – but it is hotspot for queer travellers
There is an LBGTQ+ hotspot tucked away in the middle of the Australian outback.
Alice Springs is a remote town that’s slap bang in the centre of the country, miles from the bright lights of Sydney and Melbourne. But thousands of queer travellers who have discovered it flock there every year. It’s all because of the iconic film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which starred Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp.
The comedy became a global smash after it was released in 1994. It even won an Oscar for Best Costume Design. Its plot follows drag queens on a road trip through Australia from Sydney all the way to Alice Springs. Three decades after it was released, the film has such a following that many fans still want to visit places where it was shot.
That includes Lasseters Hotel Casino in Alice Springs. In the film the queens stay there to do a string of shows. And fans of the film can follow in their footsteps by staying there. It means LGBTQ+ visitors are in town all year round.
Alice Springs even has an annual event that is inspired by Priscilla. FABalice Festival was launched in 2018 and features a raft of activities, screenings and parties. We went to check out this year’s event back in March and saw first hand how much fun it is.
Everyone is encouraged to wear bright, colourful and outrageous outfits. If you’ve forgotten to pack anything flamboyant, there are plenty of glittery and rainbow-themed items on sale. The events ran across three days and were very varied indeed. Its packed schedule included a screening of Priscilla, a diversity workshop, drag queen bingo and themed parties.
There were also quite a few celebs in town for the event including RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants Hannah Conda and Kween Kong along with Australia’s 2024 Eurovision act Electric Field. The act that really stole the show was performer Rhonda Burchmore, who is Australia’s answer to Jane McDonald.
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Through her lengthy set, she sang a string of disco classics, told hilarious stories and cracked plenty of jokes. What really made the festival fun was the comedy. Australians have a very similar sense of humour to Brits, so even though you’re on the other side of the world, you feel at home.
FABalice will run from March 6 to 9 in 2025 with events including a street party. Australia boasts plenty of other LGBTQ+ spots for queer travellers. Sydney is famous around the world for its gay scene and Mardi Gras, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every February.
Melbourne is also known for having a great gay scene and Adelaide has a fringe festival that features a raft of queer-themed events.
