Find what’s over the Dark Rainbow at Pride Ball

RECENTLY-appointed Bendigo Pride Festival director Emma Ireland has hit the ground running with a bunch of new events pencilled in to add to the organisation’s hallmark annual festival day, Pride in the Park.

Her first fabulous cab off the rank will be the Bendigo Pride Halloween Ball – Over the Dark Rainbow – on Saturday 2 November at Bendigo Trades Hall in View Street.

The night will include special guests Ms Polly Filla and Aurora Kurth, plus DJs including the irrepressible Tonky. Prizes are also on offer for best fancy dress.

Ms Ireland said the idea for the Halloween Ball is, simply, a way to encourage people to get “out and about”.

“I think the end of the year is like a vacuum,” she said.

“We need to make the effort to get off the couch, get dressed up and get out. We need to drag our friends with us, and as a community we need to get together and “say we’re all here”.”

“The more we are seen, the more we normalise community in regional areas.”

“It’s got to be a “doing” thing,” Ms Ireland continued.

“We could (just) talk about it, but coming out of COVID, potentially neurodiversity and mental health is a real problem for all of us, so bringing people together is really important.”

“It’s (essential) for young people (in particular) who are looking for a place to be themselves, to be safe, to feel normalised.”

You can grab your ticket to the Ball on the Trybooking website, www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1287445