Frolic Fest put on hold

QUEER and pride celebration, Frolic Festival, is taking a break this year.

After postponing four times in 2021 in anticipation of their sold-out November iteration, festival director Jay Morrison said the team was “burnt out.”

“The last few years have been a struggle,” he said. “We weren’t eligible for any government support during last year with COVID, and we were just exhausted after that last festival.

“Like many community organisations, we’re run solely by volunteers. We work really well together, but we all have lives, jobs, families and so some of our festival directors are looking to pass on the baton.

“And if we did push ahead this year we’d only be further burnt out and we wouldn’t have enjoyed putting it on.”

While the festival will be taking a break, the organisational crew will undergo a reshuffling this year which will see the core team of five people expand to a group of 15 to 20.

A range of specialist qualifications will be sought, which Mr Morrison said will extend beyond event management to legal, communications and government skills.

Since starting in 2017, Mr Morrison said there’s a “strong appetite” for the type of festival they offer, and it is hoped it can eventually comprise two iterations a year.

“There would be a light festival and a dark festival,” he said.

“The light festival would be focused on rainbow families and community days, the sort of thing you’d normally see involving celebration and community organisations.

“The dark would be a different offering for different audiences to explore a different side of queer culture.”

Mr Morrison said although the decision to hold off was marked with “a tinge of sadness,” it was the mature and right call to make.

“It’s more important that everyone involved with the festival, whether they’re a patron, a volunteer or one of the production team, enjoy it,” he said.

“We’re not afraid to ask for support as well when we need it so we’ll be looking at strengthening our community and government relationships once our new team is in place.”