Kween Kong Says Hot & Steamy Is A Party “Needed Now More Than Ever”

For the first time since their inaugural launch in 2020, Hot and Steamy is leaving the sultry sweet nights of Port Douglas to make a new home on the Gold Coast, but not before dropping in on Melbourne at the end of January, just in time for the city’s Midsumma festivities.

Hosted by Drag Race Down Under alumni and beloved local queen, Kween Kong, Hot and Steamy brings tropical paradise to Victoria’s capital, creating a space for people to bring their authentic selves to the dance floor.

“These festivals, now more than ever, are so important to create safe spaces for our community, but also spaces where we can just share space and focus on joy — because it just feels like there’s an effort from outside of our community to really rob us of joy at the bare minimum,” said Kween Kong. 

“I’m that aggressive affirmation Auntie that will make sure that they’re having fun,” she laughs. “Hot and Steamy is going to be bringing a lot of radical joy and a lot of fun — a space for people to just let their hair down, be as free as they want to be.”

Community has always been one of the foundational blocks of Hot and Steamy, creating a space where people of all ages, backgrounds, and identities can come together and sweat it all out under the sun, side by side. 

Joining Kween are a slew of performers and DJs from across the nation and the globe, including fellow queens Diloncé and Bebe Babow. 

Creative director Adrian Spuria didn’t want to shy away from the party’s unabashedly inclusive principles, acknowledging the political importance of which performers hold space on the stage.

“We have three queens for the main shows, and the entire cast is POC… That is often unheard of or unseen in main shows like this, especially in Australia,” he said. “That was something that was really important for me to do as well, just to help create spaces for people to take up space.”

Although Hot and Steamy is moving down the east coast, it’s not looking to assimilate to the queer circuit party culture of major capital cities.

“There’s a lot of consideration going into, you know, the ethics behind what we’re making and what we’re saying, as opposed to just putting on a big party for people to come and just get absolutely obliterated at,” Kween says.

“We want them to feel included and really cared for, because as I said: politically, we need these spaces now more than ever.”

With a national tour and a new city to call home, Hot and Steamy’s embracing its opportunity to reinvent itself, while honouring the Port Douglas community that embraced them from the start. The spirit of the north is still there in the set’s colour palettes, with motifs of sun, sand and surf running through the shows.

“I wanted to keep that aesthetic and that world, but just take it into a different, more elevated place than what it was before,” Spuria explained. “So it really does feel like a new era and a brand new event, while still keeping roots in what it was and where it came from.”

Hot & Steamy is on 25 January 2026 as a part of Midsumma Festival. You can learn more here.

 

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