Shay Mace
Aidan Sadler is the compère extraordinaire of one of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s most celebrated and vibrant queer events, Big Gay Afterparty. Held twice across August, the space returns for it’s 3rd iteration this year, complete with a cabaret line-up spanning grassroots to big name performers, and with plenty of dancing, joy and blissful madness throughout the evening on offer yet again. We caught up with Aidan for a pixelated pint to find out about their plans for BGA 2026.
You can catch Big Gay Afterparty at La Belle Angele on August 14th & 28th from 23:00 (3hrs). 2-for-1 Tickets are Available on Eventbrite ahead of the Festival Beginning. Otherwise, you can find Tickets on the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Shay: Hi Aidan! It’s the third year of Big Gay Afterparty! Congratulations. A memorable moment last year is when you looked back at all of us and told us how joyful you were to be looking at a room of beautiful queer people dancing, partying, snogging, and meeting one another. Tell us about going on the journey up to that point as a queer creative person.
Aidan: I think when you start out as a queer creative you’re really focused on YOUR voice, YOUR story and I had a great time sharing my traumas to anyone that would listen for the first few years of my career. However, recently I’ve discovered platforming other brilliant creatives and holding spaces for them to meet, mingle, flirt (snog… sometimes even spicier!) It’s way more rewarding in this stage of my life. I’ve had the privilege of sharing my shows a thousand times all over the world, now it’s time to listen! I always bring up growing up in Gravesend – we had one grotty, short-lived gay bar that was frequented by all four queers in town. It really sucked there wasn’t anywhere for us to truly express ourselves. I hope I can create that now as people visit the festival from across the globe.
Shay: BGA is of course known for its legendary line-ups that put together some of the best cabaret and variety into one room – can you give us a glimpse of what the audience can expect this year?
Aidan: This year I’m particularly focusing on grassroots artists. Whilst I love our big beefy headliners (such as the likes of Swamplesque, Mark T Cox, Mystika Glamoor) of whom I’m sure will be making appearances, I don’t want to lose sight of the power in putting smaller, just-starting-out, hidden gems in front of the beefy, 500-strong sold-out crowds we attract On top of that, we’re also collaborating with several gender-affirming care organisations to do some chugging and shoutouts and I’m looking to attract more queer-specific orgs into the space to really maximise our time spent in the room. On top of that, my token heterosexual enabler (producer and long-time friend Ollie Horn) has decided to acquire even more complimentary BGA gubbins to give out. For free. In this economy. The madman.
Shay: What sort of shenanigans happen in the lead-up to a BGA night? Give us a peak behind the curtain, if you can.
Aidan: I always think the most amazing thing about BGA is that we only have 30 minutes to turn the room over. Whilst that’s a huge amount of time for most fringe shows, we have massive 8-foot banners, DJ decks, stage reconfigurations and sound checks to get through. Usually, at this time, I’m pretending to help; holding a clipboard and looking gorgeous. Honestly, i`m mainly stealing the pizza from the band that was on before us. I love the anxiety before the night – making sure 500 people can get into the space in half an hour is a monumental task – and I hand it to RGB monster, my producers, for throwing so many brilliant trained bodies at it who get it done super smoothly. You’ll also find me peeking round the corner from the green room eyeing up the guests’ gorgeous outfits.
Shay: What are your tips for any first-time queer performers visiting EdFringe?
Aidan: Find your tribe! Whether it be the show before/ after you, people in a local bar or those horrific (mandatory) press networking events. It can be really really really (really) hard to go up to the festival if you treat yourself like a lone wolf. Put yourself out of your comfort zone and relish in whichever weirdos you relate to most. My first networking event many years ago, I found myself utterly ignored by the press in a ridiculous 80’s print jumpsuit. I found another company that was being equally ignored (they were dressed like a robotic opera singer) and we formed a lifelong friendship.
Another somewhat cliche tip: do not be so hard on yourself! Being at the festival is an achievement in itself! Receiving a review (whatever the rating) is an achievement! Taking a day off half way through your run, when your show is on 2 tickets, is an achievement! Smoking a cigarette for dinner is an achievement!!!
Shay: And what about any queer punters?
Aidan: Spend your money wisely! Don’t waste your money on big names; invest in the weird and wonderful delicious grassroots articles. Don’t rely on the “Top 10” lists as sometimes it’s just the companies with the biggest budgets and PR firms behind them.
Shay: With EdFringe now just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Aidan: I cannot wait to see the new performers i have booked for this show- the renegades, the upstarts, the icons and the crazies. Edinburgh gives everyone the chance to be whoever they want to be. And this is the platform to do that- both as an audience and as a performer. This is the real spirit of the fringe- and I’m determined to keep it alive.
Shay: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if BGA was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Aidan: As I sit on my balcony in North London with a gaggle of clowns and showgirls, we’ve been debating whether an IV drip or a Chlamydia shot is a beverage. I’m not saying it’s the beverage of Big Gay Afterparty, but I think us debating the definition definitely could be bottled into something that tastes just like it.
Shay: And most importantly, where can our readership get their hands on some BGA tickets?
Aidan: Eagle eyed readers can catch our early bird deal of 2-4-1 tickets on Eventbrite before the festival starts, but if you’re reading this afterwards you can get regular tix on the EdFringe website!
A reminder, you can catch Big Gay Afterparty at La Belle Angele on August 14th & 28th from 23:00 (3hrs). 2-for-1 Tickets are Available on Eventbrite ahead of the Festival Beginning. Otherwise, you can find Tickets on the EdFringe Online Box Office.
