Victoria’s Pride: New Two-Month-Long LGBT Festival To Debut This Summer 

Victoria’s Pride: New Two-Month-Long LGBT Festival To Debut This Summer 
Image: Melbourne Pride 2022. Photo: Suzanne Balding.

Victoria will host a new two-month-long state-wide LGBTQI Pride festival this summer. The Daniel Andrews Labor government is planning to turn the event into an annual celebration and has set aside $6.8 million over the next four years for the state’s newest LGBTQI festival

Minister for Equality Harriet Shing on Friday announced that the annual pride event, very aptly named Victoria’s Pride, will kick off this year in December 2022. The two-month-long pride celebrations will culminate in a one-day street party – the Melbourne Pride on February 12, 2023

Melbourne Pride was held as a one-day street party for the first time this year in February to mark the 40th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Victoria. Last week, the government announced that Melbourne Pride will return to the iconic Gertrude and Smith Street precinct in the city’s inner north in 2023.

A State-Wide Celebration Of LGBTQI Pride

Minister for Equality Harriet Shing (second from right) and Commissioner for LGBTIQ+ Communities Todd Fernando (extreme right) announce plans that the one-day Melbourne Street Pride will return in February 2023. Image: Supplied

“Victoria’s Pride will be a welcoming and inclusive celebration of LGBTIQ+ communities across the state – a chance for all Victorians to show visible love and support and for our community to celebrate who we are,” Minister Shing said in a statement. 

According to Commissioner for LGBTIQ+ Communities Todd Fernando the new festival, which includes Pride events in regional Victoria, will be an opportunity “for people to showcase their support for our diverse LGBTIQ+ communities.”

The government has said grants of up to 15,000 will be available for event organisers who want to “support arts and culture projects which showcase regionally based LGBTIQ+ artists and highlight regional communities’ voices and stories, from community parties and art exhibitions to theatre shows and festivals”.

Melbourne Pride

Melbourne Pride 2022. Photo: Suzanne Balding.

According to the state government, the Melbourne Pride and the 22 events leading up to it that were held earlier this year in regional Victoria were an unqualified success. An estimated 67,500 people attended the event, including around 30,000 people who attended the one-day street party on February 12, 2023.

The regional events included Wangaratta Road to Pride, Pirnbia – a sculptural work from Vince Partington, Thrive: Queer Voices: Out Loud in Castlemaine, Camp a photography series, Proudly Here – a Video exhibit of LGBTQI Ballarat locals who have led the way at Ballarat and a pop-up festival in Bendigo.

Victoria Pride will be delivered by Midusmma, which will continue to organise its annual month-long arts and pride event in Melbourne, including the popular Midsumma Carnival and Midsumma Pride march in St Kilda. 

“Whether you are a member of our fabulous rainbow communities or an ally, I encourage you to attend Victoria’s Pride events this summer,” added Fernando. 

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