IT has been touted as an inclusive, vibrant and fun event that will celebrate diversity and bring all the colours of the rainbow to the streets of “Steel City.”
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Newcastle Pride is on track to deliver on its promise to put the Hunter’s LGBTIQ community on the map, with visitors flocking from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane to attend.
The three-day event kicked off on Friday, with a sold-out short film festival at Newcastle Museum. The Loud and Proud Dance Party, at Cooks Hill Surf Club on Saturday, has also sold out.
Co-founder Lee-Anne McDougall said there was something for everyone at the family-friendly Pride Fair Day, at Foreshore Park, on Saturday, with a “pooch parade,” drag shows, music, comedy and jumping castles, as well as Hunt & Gather market stalls from noon.
The city needed something like Newcastle Pride, Ms McDougall said.
“With the change of hands of Club G, we felt a little bit homeless after that, it was somewhere we always had to go to,” she said.
“I think this is something that people have wanted, or needed, in the community, because the response has been amazing.
“The thing I am most excited about the festival is the response from the community, and Newcastle itself – not just the LGBTIQ community.”
“The aim is to make it a major festival in the city. To bring tourism, to put our LGBTIQ community on the map, and to showcase our city that is so diverse now.”
In other news today: August 25
- How former Rich Lister Nathan Tinkler got out from under more than $540 million worth of debt
- Secret Supercars services deed shows Newcastle City Council's obligations piling up
- Industrial Relations Commission tells health service to reinstate doctor payments after dispute over $791,000 public holiday costs
- Lingard Private Hospital sets scene for multimillion-dollar Merewether expansion
