Pub Queer

Connecting queers across North-East Victoria with Pubs and Poetry workshops

Award-winning songwriter and best-selling poet Ruby Gill is here for PUB QUEER: a monthly songwriting/poetry workshop and hot summer catchup for queers in the very-gay town of Beechworth and surrounds.

One Sunday each month this summer (NOV-FEB), Australia's recent Best Country Album winner Ruby will host:

• An All-Ages poetry/songwriting workshop at the Old Stone Hall (1pm), sharing prompts, inspiration and tangible skills in an accessible space designed to connect, collaborate and process all that gay stuff that doesn't have anywhere else to go...
• Then wander down to the Tanswells at 3pm to meetup with more local LGBTQIA+ at the pub, creating a public opportunity to gather safely and proudly with your beautiful fellow queers of the region.

PUB QUEER will peak with an unmissable public performance with the Beechworth Pub Choir on 4 February 2026, with participant songs and poems reimagined by Ruby and the 80+ person collective for an informal pub concert.

We'll also create a zine of poems, lyrics and stories, given to local cafes and spaces to raise visibility of queerness in North-East VIC.

Join us for a fun, informal, creative and powerful summer of:

• Telling your story and celebrating your experiences
• Developing creative skills with top poetry and songwriting mentorship
• Experiencing the power of hearing your story read or sung back to you by a choir of queers and allies who see, love and support you (and/or your art).

And most importantly...

At the heart of all this, we're here to meet local LGBTQIA+ people living and creating in the Shire! You never know, this may be where you discover your new best friend, creative collaborator, confidant, or... wife?

Join us to unleash your creativity, or simply feel connected and alive with a chat in the sun. We know you're queer, now show us you're here!