Summer fest a frolicking good time

A FEBRUARY edition of Ballarat’s major pride celebration, Frolic Festival, is set to run over four days.

Co-director Jay Morrison said this fest is more community-focused than ever with five of the twelve programmed events to be led by local groups and partners.

“We’ve had a number of different community organisations reach out wanting to participate this year, and we’ve welcomed their involvement,” he said.

“We have an all-ages program for everyone, with some favourites we’re well-known for such as Frolic Cabaret, and a new youth-focussed event called the Biggest Games Day Ever.”

Other highlights include the Frolic Warehouse Pride Party, headlined by Brendan Maclean, supported by Bells Lane, and DJ MzRizk, but Mr Morrison said organisers are aware that not all fest attendees will be keen for partying.

“We know the LGBTIQA+ community and allies are a whole spectrum of different people, and connection is important and valued in everything we do,” he said.

“We want to be inclusive, so by having a Frolic bush walk and history tour on the program, that’s a way of saying our community and interests are diverse.

“These events are a great way to get together, meet younger and older people, learn something new about Ballarat, which is such an important part of our festival, and they still participate.”

A bus trip to Victoria Pride in Collingwood will also aim make the metropolitan event more accessible for regional people.

“Travelling to Melbourne on public transport can be expensive, so we’ve organised a special bus to leave from Ballarat Station on Sunday, 12 February.

“There’ll be entertainment on the bus. People can bring their friends or meet people on the bus, so they’ll have an instant group to arrive with,” Mr Morrison said.

“There will be tens of thousands of people in Collingwood, and it will be great to have people there representing Ballarat.”

Other events on the Frolic program include Rainbow Coffee, an art show, Ace Board Games at the BMI, a writing workshop, verbatim theatre, and Queer-aoke with Bae Marie.

If people book their tickets before 2pm this Saturday, 21 January, they will go into draw to get their ticket costs refunded, and attend for free.

Visit frolicfestival.org for more information and tickets. The fest also offers a friendly COVID refund policy that organisers encourage ticket buyers to read online