EVENTS · BOLOGNA

Gender Bender opens in Bologna with a film on the birth of house music

A GAY Mafia newsroom · 28 October 2026

The 24th edition of the Cassero's festival of bodies, genders and desires runs 29 October–7 November: dance premieres, queer cinema, and five club nights including a Halloween party.

Gender Bender, the international festival produced by Bologna's Cassero LGBTQIA+ Center, opens its 24th edition on Thursday 29 October and runs until 7 November, according to the festival's official site. On opening night, after a welcome toast at the Cassero at 18:30, Cinema Lumière screens Move Ya Body: The Birth of House by Elegance Bratton at 20:00, a 92-minute US documentary, as listed in the official calendar.

Dance at the centre

The festival is directed by Mauro Meneghelli and treats contemporary dance as its core, with the body as a space of connection and transformation, the organisers say in their edition announcement. The word chosen for 2026 is popolare (popular), Zero reported on 19 October: accessible occasions to watch and meet, around desire, relationships, and the vitality and mortality of bodies.

The calendar brings in choreographers from France, Iran, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Norway, Latvia and Italy. Highlights include Armin Hokmi's Of the Heart – An Etude (31 October and 1 November), Silvia Gribaudi's Suspended Chorus at Teatro Arena del Sole (31 October), Solène Weinachter's After All (4–5 November) and Daniele Ninarello's Rise at the Cassero on 7 November. Gruppo nanou's durational piece Redrum at Palazzo Bentivoglio is free while places last.

The film strand runs mostly at Cinema Lumière and Cinema Modernissimo, with premieres including Our Body Is an Expanding Star (5 November), Michiel van Erp's Downtown (6 November) and Bruno Leggieri's AGE – Come sente il presente (7 November). American novelist Catherine Lacey talks at Salaborsa on 3 November.

The after-dark programme

For the dancefloor crowd, the Cassero (via Don Minzoni 18) hosts the festival's club nights, with prices from the official ticket page:

• Techno Blood Bath, Friday 30 October from 23:30: free before 00:30, €5 after.
• Da Paura! Halloween Party, Saturday 31 October from 23:00: €7 early bird, €10 presale, €15 on the door.
• Brutal Casual, Tuesday 3 November from 21:00: €8.
• Fa Così 2000, Friday 6 November from 23:30: €5.
• LaRoboterie, Saturday 7 November from 23:00: €5 until 00:30, €8 after.

Some parties require an Arcigay membership card, the ticket page notes.

How to go

Dance tickets cost €13 (€8 reduced for under-30s and over-65s), films €7.50 (€5 reduced). Passes start at €18 for three shows and €12 for three films. Tickets are sold online through TicketSMS or in person at the Cassero, daily from 29 October to 6 November, 15:00–17:00. There is no box office at the venues, so buy ahead. Talks are free, and workshops are free with registration.