Community will be front and centre at next year's Auckland Pride, as organisers hope to move beyond the parade debate that overshadowed this year's celebration.
Returning in 2020 for its eighth year, the festival has today launched its programme for the February festival, highlighting the artistic events that will be spread throughout Auckland during the two-week event.
Alongside key events such as the the Big Gay Out and the return of the Pride Gala, the festival will feature international queer artists in headlining acts, with comedian Hannah Gadsby and stars from RuPaul's Drag Race bringing their latest shows to New Zealand.
Max Tweedie, who assumed the newly created role of Director of Pride in June, says the central themes for the 2020 festival will be liberation and celebration.
He says that the festival will be about bringing together everyone from the community to look forward as well as acknowledge the past.
"We really wanted to make sure we created space for the conversations about the gains that still need to be made, but also to be able to celebrate who we are and how far we've come."
One event that has been a source of reflection was the debate that ended the Pride Parade. The parade down Ponsonby Road had been one of the festival's main events, but the 2019 parade was cancelled following a contentious decision by the Board banning Police from marching in their uniforms.
While the decision was the result of multiple public meetings, petitions called for a vote of no confidence in the Board, and corporate sponsors withdrew their support.
While Tweedie was not involved in the decision, he says there had long been a "multitude of issues" that had made it a point of contention amongst the community.
