‘How I experienced a queer homecoming at Mighty Hoopla 2025’

After years of bearing witness to the annual bombardment on my social media of the glitter-soaked, scantily clad dressed attendees of a little pop-fuelled weekend event known as Mighty Hoopla, I finally made it to Brockwell Park for the first time last weekend – and the year JADE, Ciara and Kesha were headlining, to boot!

Walking on route to the music festival quickly clued me in that this just isn’t any music festival – it’s the queer festival outside of Pride. Following the horde of people walking from Clapham Common to the festival site was an experience in itself, and once I was through the gates, it was a whole other level. 

The attention to detail in the transformation of the part really sets the festival’s tone from the off. The themed stages, the Hay Girl Hay area, the outrageously cute food trucks, and the unbeatable energy that filled the air from start to finish. 

It would be amiss of me not to admit that the big draw of Mighty Hoopla is the legendary pop icon performances they deliver year on year. This year also saw the likes of JoJo, Kate Nash and Jamelia grace the stage with quintessentially camp pop performances. 

Upon my arrival, the first artist I saw was Jamelia. Her setlist was a nostalgic celebration of early 2000s UK R&B, having the entire crowd dancing to ‘Superstar’ and with the help of the scorching sun, had me feeling like I was in an old school MTV Music Video.  

Later in the evening JADE, delivered a dynamic performance on the main stage. Her set featured some of her recent solo hits like ‘Angel of My Dreams’ and ‘FUFN’, the latter of which began with a (now viral) moment of the singer leading a call-out of transphobia and a certain children’s book author. It’s always great to see allies be so outspoken, especially in the current political climate. JADE’s set was a clear signal of her star power and offered some of the most memorable moments from the entire weekend.

It’s very apparent that Mighty Hoopla offers something for everyone, from the iconic main stage performances to the sweatier dance vibe provided at The Bump tent. It was fun to walk around and explore the different offerings.

Aside from the performances, an unexpected but unbelievably fun part of Mighty Hoopla was bumping into so many social media icons, who have fuelled my 1AM doom scrolling addiction. From meeting Gogglebox’s Joe Baggs and his partner Kaine Ruddach and the main stage hosts Ash Holme and Jack Remmington – it was fab to meet so many members of the community all just having a good time. I was particularly happy to have met The Traitors cast members Minah Shannon and Leanne Quigley who I just had to tell them about how obsessed the Attitude team become with the show when it’s airing.

For more information about Mighty Hoopla, and to book tickets for 2026, click here.