Sydney to get new gay party

Sydney is to get a new gay and lesbian music festival this year.
Summer Gay Day, to be held in Centennial Parklands on 1 December, will feature three different entertainment areas and a broad variety of entertainment.
Marketing director Tim Duggan said the daytime festival would take advantage of the summer weather and vast open space.
This project has been in the pipeline for a long time in varying incarnations, he said.
Centennial Parklands is such a unique and highly sought-after location that it has taken a lot of behind-the-scenes work to get Summer Gay Day off the ground.
Sydney in summer is one of the world’s most beautiful cities, so we wanted to give it a truly world class event to celebrate what we love most about our amazing city -“ beautiful music in a stunning location.
Duggan said Summer Gay Day would feature three main entertainment areas, each widely different from the other, around Kippax Lake at Moore Park.
The main arena, the Summer Gay Day Stage, would focus on summer-filled partying music with a good dose of sunshine, funk and body-shaking bass lines, Duggan said.
The second area, Summer Lovin’, on the opposite side of Kippax Lake, will house the Manhunt Stage -“ an indoor arena with a darker musical taste.
The third stage, built into the side of the lake, will be known as Summer Camp, a live and loud space with off-the-hook comedy, cabaret, festival games and more.
There is nothing better than being out in the open on a beautiful summer’s day, Duggan said.
Outdoor festivals have been gaining momentum in the straight clubbing world over the past few years and we wanted to give the gay community a world-class festival that we can all be proud to call our own.
Duggan said he was not concerned the festival would further clutter an already crowded gay and lesbian dance party calendar, saying Summer Gay Day had a different and broader appeal than other events already on sale.
Summer Gay Day is such a unique event that we’re confident of its appeal, he said.
It is something that we really feel has been missing in the gay scene lately -“ a fresh music festival set in a huge grassy open area during the day.
There is something really special about daytime music festivals, and we can’t wait to celebrate all of the things that we really love about our community with thousands of new best friends on the first day of Summer 2007.
The DJ and entertainment line-up will be announced in SSO next month.
Summer Gay Day is on Saturday 1 December from noon to 10pm. First release tickets are $79 plus booking fee and go on sale on Monday at www.SameSame.com.au, Hum Records Darlinghurst and Newton, and Salt Clinic at Taylor Square.