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.