In an Australian first, Pride-Solation will bring together 15 Victorian Regional Festivals and organisations to celebrate Pride Month on Saturday 20 June 2020.
COVID-19 isolation has inspired us to come together online to celebrate the LGBTIQA+ community in a one-off live streamed event to celebrate the uniqueness of rural and regional Victoria and unify the community in Pride.
The organisations participating are: Koori Pride Network, OUTintheOPEN Festival Shepparton (Goulburn Valley Pride Inc.), Mallee Pride, Gippsland Pride Initiative, Wimmera Pride Project, Geelong Rainbow Festival (Geelong Rainbow Inc), Ballarat Frolic Festival, Castlemaine Pride, Trans and Gender Diverse Bendigo and Beyond, ChillOut Festival (Daylesford) and Thorne Harbour Country (part of Thorne Harbour Health) who will program health and wellbeing content. The event is being live-streamed on Facebook by LaNCE TV.
“Great things are happening in rural and regional Victoria,” said Claudia Validum, Thorne Harbour Country Program Coordinator. “I approached festivals with the idea of showcasing what every region of Victoria is doing in the LGBTIQA+ Festival space. With COVID-19 restrictions, an online initiative works well and with the technical power of LaNCE TV, everyone now has the chance to see the amazing things happening.”
Each festival is programming content to highlight local artists and community members from their regions. This online event will truly be a ‘Best of LGBTIQ+ Victoria’ showcase featuring musicians, artists, burlesque, cabaret, interviews with community members, and plenty more exciting surprises.
“We’re excited to bring you an Australian-first to highlight rural and regional LGBTIQA+ communities in a unique live-streamed event accessible by anyone,” said Lance De Boyle, LaNCE TV host. “We know people are feeling disconnected from their community, but there’s plenty of pride to celebrate. Come celebrate Pride Month with us.”
Pride-Solation acknowledges all the Indigenous peoples whose land on which the festival organisers and viewers meet. It is our hope that we will have traditional owners welcoming festival viewers onto their country, and look forward to watching this pivotal moment of the festival unfold. If we can pull this off this will be yet another first for Pride-Solation!
Pride-Solation will take place on Saturday, 20 June from 12.00pm to 6.00pm. It will be streamed live on the Pride-Solation Facebook Page and the LaNCE TV page.
Image: PrideSolation Festival (supplied)