THE LOVE TANK proudly presents
THE LOVE HUB 2026
We're back, baby!
The Love Hub (the love-child of The Love Tank and Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest) returns for our 8th edition! Running from Monday 14th September to Sunday 20th September, we're bringing you 21 packed sessions of queer community, connection, skill-sharing, and joy.
During the week (Monday to Friday), catch us at the brand-new Common Press venue in Dalston (make sure you head to Dalston - don't go to the old Shoreditch one!). At the same time, we’ll be running coinciding events from our HQ in Cambridge Heath, available both in-person and live online so you can tune in from home.
To celebrate making it halfway through the week, we’re throwing a mid-festival party on Friday night to kick off the weekend! 🎉🔥
Then, get ready for our biggest, busiest days: Saturday and Sunday will see St. Margaret’s House in Bethnal Green packed with non-stop events running from morning all the way through to the evening.
So, what’s on the menu this year? In between the chats, coffee, and community hangs, we've got Rope Bondage, the Trans Zine Launch, Polyamory DIY, Douching 101, a Queer Arab Salon, Disability Futures Panel, Archiving queer history, and a whole heap more to dive into!
♿ Accessibility: Please check each individual event page for specific accessibility details, step-free access information, and venue facilities.
❤️ A note on The Love Hub well-being: All the venues we're using are ventilated - but that doesn't make them totally COVID, flu, or common-cold safe. We'll have free masks available, HEPA filters pumping, and designated quieter spaces for folx who need a moment. Got a cough, cold, or flu-like symptoms? Please rest up at home until your symptoms have subsided: many of us in our communities have to do everything we can not to get sick, including those of us with disabilities or compromised immune systems.
House Rules
aka The Love Hub values
The Love Hub is brought to you by The Love Tank - a non-profit organisation promoting the health and well-being of underserved communities.
We’re a lived experience organization: we’re queer, pro-trans, and believe that migrants make our worlds richer and more joyful. We’re proudly anti-racist and believe access to health care - including abortion - is a human right. We stand for bodily autonomy including reproductive justice, the decriminalization of drug use and sex work, and access to gender-affirming care.
A lot of our work focuses on sexual health, so please expect conversations that include sex and sexual well-being.
If you’ve just discovered The Love Tank and are thinking of booking a Love Hub ticket, but find our values challenging, this is a great moment to ask yourself: “Is this space right for me?”
Some sessions will have an official photographer present. If you do not wish to be photographed, please let us know at the start of the session. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, photography, video, or audio recording of panel members or audience members is not permitted. Anyone who records or photographs without consent will be asked to leave the session.
Our events are fun, joyful, and supportive. It takes courage for presenters and facilitators to get up and share their work, so please be respectful: clap in the right places, don’t heckle, and help create a welcoming environment. If our values don’t align with yours, that’s okay - please don’t attend. We won’t mind.
Book your tickets!
-
Too Queer to Print: Why Queer and Trans Zines Still Matter
MON 14 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 6.30PM
THE COMMON PRESS DALSTON, FREEEver wondered why paper and staples still hold so much radical power? Join three trans and queer zine-makers as we dive into the wild history of DIY publishing - from 80s queercore to present-day resistance. Expect top tips on making and distributing your own zines, plus free copies of the brand-new Love Tank’s Trans Migrant Zine!
-
Felting the Flaps
TUE 15 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 6.30PM
THE COMMON PRESS DALSTON, FREEReady to get crafty with your anatomy? Join Angelina and Charity for a delightfully queer, beginner-friendly embroidery workshop celebrating bodies in all their forms. We’ll supply the calico, hoops, and colorful threads - you bring your fabulous self. Come stitch, chat, and craft a unique piece of textile art to take home!
-
Body Image Under Fascism
TUE 16 SEPTEMBER 2025, AT 6.30PM
THE GREEN HOUSE, FREEAre your body goals actually yours, or is the algorithm pulling the strings? Join us for a critical conversation dissecting the line between joyful self-fashioning and systemic pressure. Together, we’ll interrogate societal mandates to be thinner, smoother, younger, and whiter - and figure out how we resist them together.
-
The Little Backpocket Guide To Safer Sex Work
WED 16 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 6.30PM
THE COMMON PRESS DALSTON, FREEWant to know how we build better community care and support for sex workers? Join this essential panel discussion as we break down key resources, navigate safety and rights, and launch our comprehensive Little Back Pocket Guide to Safer Sex Work. A vital space for solidarity, practical wisdom, and radical care across our movements.
-
Testing Your A, B, Cs
WED 16 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 6.30PM
THE GREEN HOUSE, FREEWant to know what’s actually in your party stash? Get hands-on with reagent testing in this practical harm-reduction workshop! Learn the safe, cheap, and legal nuts and bolts of home substance testing. Essential knowledge for anyone who uses substances - or loves people who do.
-
Archiving Queer Culture
WED 16 SEPTEMBER 2026, 6PM
THE BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE, FREEJoin our tour of the Bishopsgate Institute's LGBTQIA+ Collections and discover the stories they're home to! Why was John Gielgud told to see a doctor? How many lesbian pulp fiction novels can one library hold? Bishopsgate Institute is a treasure trove of LGBTQIA+ history with extensive archives holding cuttings, badges, and banners – and even a set of wizard’s robes. By the end of this tour, you’ll know all about them. Come along for a guided walk-through of these vital collections and ask questions as we explore queer history together.
-
Spotlight on The Love Tank’s DIY HRT Roadmap
THU 17 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 6.30PM
THE COMMON PRESS DALSTON, FREECurious about how trans communities navigate gender-affirming care on their own terms? We're launching The Love Tank’s DIY HRT Roadmap! Featuring speaker discussions on harm reduction, navigating care webs, and community support, followed by an anonymous Q&A. Leave feeling informed, empowered, and equipped with practical tools.
-
Doing Disability Futures
FRI 18 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 6.30PM
THE COMMON PRESS SHOREDITCH, FREEWhat does "crip worldmaking" look like when we build a future for all of us? This powerful panel brings together queer, disabled migrants and people of colour to explore disability justice beyond capitalist grind. Join us as we center lived experiences, challenge colonial systems, and imagine radical crip futures of care and liberation.
-
The Living Tree: Exploring Identity, Belonging & Connection
FRI 18 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 6.30PM
THE GREEN HOUSE, FREEWhat roots sustain you, and what branches are you growing next? Reconnect with yourself and community in this reflective Tree of Life workshop. Using creative prompts, you’ll map out what shapes and nurtures you, crafting a personal artwork to take home while helping us build a collective tree of shared queer connection.
-
Love Hub Festival Party
FRI 18 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 9PM
THE COMMON PRESS DALSTON, FREEReady to shake off the week and hit the dancefloor? Join us as The Love Hub and Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest join forces for our ultimate mid-festival celebration! Expect brilliant beats, gorgeous queer energy, and plenty of dancing as we celebrate the power of film, community, and radical joy together.
-
Queer Self-Defence
SAT 19 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 11AM
ST. MARGARET’S HOUSE, FREEWant to feel more confident and empowered in your body? Bender Defenders are back with a holistic, trauma-informed self-defence workshop tailored for queer and trans folks. Expect fun warm-up games, de-escalation tips, practical physical techniques, and a boost of community strength! Wear comfy clothes and bring water.
-
Homo Essentials
SAT 19 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 1PM
ST. MARGARET’S HOUSE, FREEStill relying on Blu Tack to hang your favorite art? Fear no more, darlings! Join handy babe Dani Singer for a practical, playful crash course in drilling, hanging, and tool basics. We’re turning that IKEA anxiety into pure “I made this!” pride. Tools, laughs, and queer home power fully guaranteed!
-
Black Queer Futures
SAT 19 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 3PM
ST. MARGARET’S HOUSE, FREEWhere do we go from here, and what kind of world are we building for ourselves? Join us for a vital, open conversation on Black queer futures in a "post-BLM hype" world. We’ll reflect, dream, and strategise together on how we sustain radical vision, community resilience, and lasting liberation for Black queer lives.
-
Kitchen Table Activism: Raising Spoons, Sharing Stories, and Creating Liberatory Worlds
SAT 19 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 5PM
ST. MARGARET’S HOUSE, FREEDid you know some of the world's most radical movements started over a cup of tea? From the origins of PrEPster to modern grassroots resistance, explore how kitchen tables host liberatory world-making. Join this interactive panel of activists to share stories, collide perspectives, and strategise how we bite back against rising fascism.
-
The Return of Dr Douche and His Amazing Magic Disappearing Hose
SAT 19 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 7PM
ST. MARGARET’S HOUSE, FREEGot questions about douching you were always too afraid to ask? Dr Douche returns! Five years after its legendary debut, this hilarious yet practical panel breaks down sexual health, douching do’s and don’ts, and real-talk hygiene - complete with a live demonstration from a very brave model. Clean, informative, and wildly entertaining!
-
Bondage 101
SUN 20 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 10AM
ST. MARGARET’S HOUSE, FREECurious about rope but don't know where to start? Unpack the art, safety, and consent of ropework in this accessible intro session. Whether you’re a complete novice or looking to refine your foundation, we’ll cover essential knot dynamics, communication, and practical techniques in a warm, welcoming space.
-
Folk’s Tales
SUN 20 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 12PM
ST MARGARET’S HOUSE, FREEWho says mythology is only found in old books? Hosted by Traveller Pride, this creative workshop explores how folktales are made and passed down. We’ll craft peg talismans while chatting about how elevating the everyday into the folkloric can transform how we see the world. Come rewrite the lore!
-
Polyamory DIY: Queering the Family
SUN 20 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 2PM
ST. MARGARET’S HOUSE, FREEWhat if "family" was something you could custom-design from scratch? Hosted by PolyStation, this interactive workshop radically reimagines family through a queer, polyamorous lens. Question conventional structures, explore relational archetypes, and draft your own personalized framework for love, connection, and chosen kin.
-
The Queer Arab Salon: Masculinity and Effeminacy / الرجولة والخنوثة
SUN 20 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 4PM
ST. MARGARET’S HOUSE, FREEWhat does Arab masculinity look like when examined from within our own communities? Through pre-recorded video provocations and real community questions, this facilitated salon dives deep into lived experiences of gay and queer Arab men - exploring expressions of takhneeth (effeminacy), identity, and belonging beyond Western gazes.
-
The Art of Cruising: Indoors, Darkrooms and Outdoors
SUN 20 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 6PM
ST. MARGARET’S HOUSE, FREEHow are cruising culture and darkroom etiquette evolving today? Join this interactive panel as we launch our official Dark Room Guide and examine who gets included (and who gets left out) in cruising spaces. Help us collectively shape a modern, inclusive etiquette guide for indoor, outdoor, and darkroom desire!
-
Société Noir Queer Cuddle Party
SUN 20 SEPTEMBER 2026, AT 6PM
ST. MARGARET’S HOUSE, FREELooking for gentle warmth, platonic touch, and conscious connection? Facilitated by Société Noir, this guided cuddle party offers a relaxed, clothes-on space to practice boundary-setting and consensual touch. Scan the QR code in the brochure to get time and venue details for this cozy community gathering!
