This Autumn, burlesque festival fever hits Stockholm for A Smorgasbord of Sin! Introducing the Stockholm Burlesque Festival 2012…

Stockholm Burlesque Festival 2012

Presented by Amazing Knicker Kittens, Fräulein Frauke & John Paul Bichard The 2nd International Stockholm Burlesque Festival runs from October 11-14th 2012

With four days of shows, socials, workshops, exhibitions and extravagance. Stockholm once again becomes the sparkling epicentre of northern burlesque.

Friday and Saturday night wows with big international burlesque shows. As well as the beginners segment and the breast cancer research benefit and tassel twirling championship. Octbooberfest will be held at the very birthplace of Swedish neo-burlesque, Kägelbanan at Södra Teatern.

Thursday night sees the social and photo exhibition and Sunday’s burlesque brunch will take place at nearby artsy hotel Scandic Malmen.

Photos: via John Paul Bichard

“The first instalment of the festival was an amazing success with incredible stars like World Famous *BOB*, Miss Indigo Blue and Trixie Little & the Evil Hate Monkey”, says Duchess Dubois, one of the co-producers behind the festival. She’s also the founder of Sweden’s first and most famous troupe, The Amazing Knicker Kittens Burlesque Revue.

“We are so happy to be doing this again, and we have some very bright shining European stars lined up for this year,” she continues. “We are really pleased to be co-producing with the dynamic duo behind Fräulein Frauke Presents, Sweden’s largest burlesque club. With our combined experiences in performance and production we can do something truly spectacular.”

“The festival is about building and strengthening the Swedish scene and connecting to our wider networks.”says Fräulein Frauke, co-producer of the festival and one of Sweden’s most successful burlesque artists, who produces Fräulein Frauke Presents with her husband John Paul Bichard.

“We want the Swedish scene to grow and along with the workshops we have planned, it feels good to offer newbies a chance to perform and gain experience in their own forum, and then follow up with amazing high-quality, high-experience shows on the main stage for everyone to get inspired.”

John Paul is also an acclaimed photographer, and he is currently working on the exhibition that will open during the festival. “I take every opportunity as a producer and as ‘Mr. Frauke’ to photograph the events we go to and host, and this summer I am working on a portrait series to show during the festival”, he says. “I love the politics and aesthetics of burlesque, and I’m very excited about the
extravaganza we’re working on for October. We want every guest to feel as if they have entered another world at the venue, and to express themselves in costume and make-up to become a part of that, whether they are on stage or off.”

“My favourite part is Octbooberfest”, says Dixie Belle, Knicker Kitten since 2006 and the fourth member of the production team. “Boobies are so important to our artform, and raising breast cancer awareness and research money feels like a must. Having a kitschy sport-like tasseltwirling championship is the most fun way to do both, and the winner gets a sash and a trophy. And heaps of glory, of course. But who doesn’t love a sash and a trophy?”

Excitingly, the festival invites ALL performers, Swedish or international to apply to be a part of
Stockholm Burlesque Festival which is a paying event. Feature headliners will be booked independently, but the majority of artists will be chosen from among the many applications that have been, and will be, submitted before deadline. All the information is available on the website. Applications are accepted until July 15th 2012.

Information available for both participants and performers here.

Now you can enjoy highlights from the Stockholm Burlesque Festival 2012 with this video:

The video stars Burlexe faves: Laurie Hagen, LouLou D’vil, Fancy Chance, Luna Rosa, Miss Glory Pearl and so much more.

Burlexe is a sensational London burlesque show inspired by the women who created the genre and perform the art. It fuses burlesque performance with storytelling, dancing with acting.

We love to see burlesque showcased to the masses and with our favourite ladies to boot. The Stockholm Burlesque Festival 2012 is certainly one of our favourite burlesque events.

To see more, join us for the Burlexe show by booking your ticket.