Darwin Pride Festival is back and bigger than ever with a 10-day program full of events celebrating the rich, diverse LGBTQIA+ community in the Northern Territory kicking off on Thursday September 21.
The program includes Darwin’s first Pride March in over 10 years, funded by City of Darwin. The march will be held in the CBD on Saturday September 23, assembling at 4pm for a 4.30pm departure at Raintree Park ending in Civic Square for the Diverse City Fair Day running from 5-9pm sponsored by the Northern Territory Government’s Office of Gender Diversity and Equality.
Many MLAs, community groups as well as the police and emergency services will be in attendance. City of Darwin has also committed funding for a rainbow crossing to be installed at the intersection of Smith and Knuckey Streets, which will add colour and life to the city for the duration of the Darwin Pride Festival. The rainbow crossing will be installed early on Wednesday morning with media invited to attend the opening.
Other program highlights include the Miss First Nation pageant, Australia’s first drag competition for Indigenous performers produced by local event promoters Departure Lounge. Tiwi Islands Sistagal Crystal Love and local queen Isla Fuckyah are two of the nine finalists.
Local artist Therese Ritchie will also open her exhibition ‘Love’, featuring intimate black and white portrait photography of members of Darwin’s LGBTQIA+ community, at the Northern Centre for Contemporary Art on Thursday September 29.
The Festival runs until October 1 and is launching with a Pink Flamingos event open to everyone at SKYCITY’s Sandbar on Thursday September 21, which will include performances by Miss First Nation finalists and music by Melbourne queer DJ Whiskey Houston (NYC Pride 2016, Club Awi, The Outpost).
Darwin Pride Festival has added significance this year due to the timing of the Commonwealth Government’s postal survey on same sex marriage. The timing of the Festival means that these events are an important opportunity for the local LGBTQIA+ community and their friends, families and allies to have a voice and be visible in their support for marriage equality.
Established in 1985, Darwin Pride Festival is a volunteer-run Festival organised by the community and auspiced by the Northern Territory AIDS and Hepatitis Council.
For all the festival details head to their website.
Source: Media Release
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