Welling­ton Pride Fes­ti­val is hap­pen­ing from 7 — 23 March this year and it’s time to get excit­ed!

The first Pride cel­e­bra­tions in Te Whanganui-ā-Tara were organ­ised as part of cam­paign­ing for Homo­sex­u­al Law Reform in 1986, and hon­est­ly you only have to read the Face­book com­ments (don’t read the Face­book com­ments) to see exact­ly why Pride is still so very nec­es­sary. But as well as being still very much a polit­i­cal protest, it’s also a time of cel­e­bra­tion and joy even — or espe­cial­ly — when the world feels so dire right now. But with over six­ty events as part of the two weeks, what to choose?

Lucky for you, this ‘ista also hap­pens to be on the fes­ti­val board (small city, many fin­gers, pies, etc), so I asked some of my fel­low board­ees what their picks for the fes­ti­val are.

Jeremy

Jeremy with a group of friends hugging on the street
Jere­my and friends at last year’s Parade

I’m going to have to go for events start­ing with P … the Parade and the Pic­nic — great out­door book­ends to our Fes­ti­val 🙂

P

P and friend, wearing hi vis vests to marshal at last year's OITC event
P and friend, mar­shalling at last year’s Out in the CIty

Out in The City is an event close to my heart — the first Welling­ton Pride Fes­ti­val event I ever vol­un­teered for!  I can’t wait to stand with our com­mu­ni­ty OUT and proud and enjoy perus­ing all the fab­u­lous stalls & activ­i­ties on offer.

Gin­ger’s Pop-up has an incred­i­ble guest pan­el and I’m excit­ed to be attend­ing and have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to meet some of the inspir­ing wāhine on the pan­el. Being able to open and close the fes­ti­val with events in col­lab­o­ra­tion with mana when­ua at Hau Tapua and the Pride Pic­nic is what makes the 2025 so spe­cial for me!

Steven S

A friend and Steven S in a rainbow Glamaphones photo frame at last year's Out in the City
Steven (right) with a friend at the Glama­phones stand at Out in the City in 2021

I’m most look­ing for­ward to the Gala Open­ing. All the acts are my favourites! And who doesn’t like a good open­ing!

But seri­ous­ly, the events where my choir will be in will be fab, show­cas­ing the diver­si­ty all in one place — we will be at Out in the City, Out in the Zoo, and our very own open rehearsal for peeps to come try us out. Also look out for the loud­est group in the Parade!

The Pic­nic will also be a high­light for me. I’m look­ing for­ward to see­ing what MC King Markiss has in store for us, and a full set of bangers done clas­si­cal by Orches­tra Welling­ton. Last­ly, knit­ters and cro­cheters, come join me at Welling­ton Museum’s Cho­sen Fam­i­ly event where I’ll be launch­ing a mega rain­bow group craft­ing project!!!

Taylor

A banner for the Hīkoi, featuring the progressive pride flag, the tinoranga titiratanga flag and a trans flag I’m excit­ed for the Dawn Ser­vice, Hīkoi, and Pic­nic! These 3 watch the ener­gies of the Fes­ti­val open with the sun, reach their height as we stand unit­ed in protest, and then whakatau, calm and close in the gar­dens. Mahi wairua is an area that inspires me, and to watch oth­ers engage and sup­port the fes­ti­val through this mahi is some­thing I’m excit­ed to see and be a part of.

As a mem­ber of Tīwhanawhana, I’ll also be per­form­ing at the Open­ing Gala and the open­ing of the Pride Parade. Stand­ing with this rōpū will bring me joy as we share our com­mu­ni­ty with Te Whanganui-ā-Tara.

Joanna

Fat babe Joanna tries to feed a rainbow cupcake to a large poster of herself in a rainbow skirt.
The actu­al event will fea­ture more peo­ple than just me. Prob­a­bly.

As for myself? I have very lim­it­ed ener­gy so I’ll most­ly be stick­ing to the WPF sig­na­ture events and key­board sup­port, but I can’t wait for Fist Club, because Willy Smack­n­Tush is an unstop­pable force, and I look for­ward to a swim at Out in the Pool.

I’m too old for it but I love love love that Welling­ton Library is run­ning a sign-mak­ing work­shop with Mandy Hager — how cool to give our ran­gi­tahi access to such an activist trea­sure! I’m hop­ing to make it to one of the Drag Bin­go or Drag Quizzes if my friends ever con­firm which of the many dates will work best for them, and I can’t wait to be all set up for the event that I’m run­ning — Fat Queers Eat­ing Cake — and enjoy­ing kai as both an act of com­mu­ni­ty and defi­ance.