Launched in 2009 as the first festival of its kind in Germany, Queer Festival Heidelberg has evolved into a notable fixture in the queer scene (and well beyond). As a platform for queer culture celebrating sexual and gender diversity, its mix of concerts, art shows, performances, readings, film screenings, and panel discussions attracts more than 10,000 visitors from across Germany and Europe every year. Since 2021, Germany’s largest and oldest queer festival has enjoyed the support of the city of Heidelberg in the context of its membership in the Rainbow Cities Network.

A comprehensive book on the annual photo competition that is held alongside the festival will be published this year to mark the event’s fifteenth anniversary. It includes an extensive range of pictures and brief portraits representing a selection of the best entries of recent years. Thanks to the competition’s changing focus and international appeal, the book offers a culturally and thematically unusual spectrum of photographic positions and perspectives that transcend established norms, codes, and visual imageries.