Tamati Coffey said setting up an organising committee was the first step to getting the projects off the ground. Photo / Michael Craig
Tamati Coffey said setting up an organising committee was the first step to getting the projects off the ground. Photo / Michael Craig
Former television personality and Rotorua local Tamati Coffey is back from his break and ready to launch into his next projects.
At a special screening of movie Pride at Rotorua Reading Cinema last night, Mr Coffey announced plans to help set up a Proudly Rotorua float in the Auckland Pride Parade in February and reinvent Bay Pride for 2015.
Mr Coffey ran as the Labour Party candidate for the Rotorua electorate in this year's general election.
He said since then he had spent some time regrouping and deciding on a list of things he wanted to do.
One of the floats at this year's Auckland Pride Parade, which may next year feature a Rotorua entrant. Photo / File
"My partner and I were living in Rotorua at the time of the last Auckland Pride Parade and just thought how cool it would be to have our city represented in the parade.
"As for Bay Pride, it wasn't run this year, but I was speaking to one of the organisers who said he was keen to get it going again. We figured it would be a good idea to do the events together."
Bay Pride was a festival set up by the Bay Pride Trust in 2011 to celebrate the diversity within Rotorua's community.
The Auckland Pride Parade down Ponsonby Rd is a highlight of the Auckland Pride Festival and the largest gay pride event in the country.
Mr Coffey said setting up an organising committee was the first step to getting the projects off the ground.
"We need a team to get the two projects rolling so the purpose of the [movie] screening was to get a group of interested people together and organise a committee.
"I had set up a Facebook event and from that I was inundated with phone calls, texts, and Facebook messages from people who were keen to get involved."
Mr Coffey said Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick was "absolutely supportive" of creating a Proudly Rotorua float for the next Auckland Pride Parade.
"We are essentially selling Rotorua to an Auckland audience. When I spoke briefly to the mayor, she said the council were absolutely supportive of the venture and could see nothing but good coming out of it."
