A lot to take Pride in

FROM 12 to 28 March, join in on the fun and festivities on offer at this year’s Bendigo Pride Festival.

After having to cancel last year’s events due to COVID, festival director John Richards said the community are excited to be able to return for 2021.

“It’s certainly been a little harder to get things up and running again, and things are a little bit later than we might have wanted, but as far as we can tell everything is up and ready to go,” he said.

“We’ve ended up with less online than we had thought, what we’ve mostly done is still have the same events as usual, just with smaller audiences.

“This is the second year in the row we couldn’t have the dog show because it’s not COVID friendly but everything else, we’re just running on intimate terms.”

Primarily a celebration of the town’s queer community, Mr Richards said the annual Pride Festival is also a great way to acknowledge how great it is to live in Bendigo.

“It’s the pride in ourselves and the pride in where we live because Bendigo is a great place to live and I have found it surprisingly warm, inviting and inclusive,” he said.

“This a festival with range, that can do lots of different things and it’s always great to see diversity and Bendigo itself gets stronger the more diverse we get and the more events we have.

“Its community run and volunteer organised, it’s just really exciting to be able to build something like this in Bendigo.”

Although there are plenty of events on offer over the month, Mr Richards said there are a couple of stand-out offerings and installations to look out for on the program.

 

What not to miss at this year’s Pride Festival

To book tickets or check out all the events on offer, visit bendigopridefestival.com.au/events.

 

Heart VR

From 13 to 17 March, virtual reality experience Heart VR is set to premiere, offering participants the chance to experience a simulation of the interior of a beating human heart.

For $10 a ticket, the virtual reality experience is set for The Engine Room, an installation Mr Richards said is not to be missed.

“This is a world premiere virtual reality theatre piece, that the Arena Theatre are doing and it’s astonishing,” he said.

 

Drag Queen Mine Tour

Follow Bendigo’s fabulous drag personality Deborah Triangle and dive in to the Central Deborah Gold Mine, 61 metres underground.

Running 13 March from 2pm to 4pm, for $35 a ticket join in on the underground fun and tour the iconic Bendigo mines with only Deborah and a head torch to light your way.

“We’re sending a drag queen down the mines which is always fun,” Mr Richards said.

“Our drag queen is called Deborah Triangle which is a funny joke here in Bendigo, people love it.”

 

Thrive Theatre Piece

Housed at The Engine Room of 13 March at 8pm, Thrive: Queer voices, out loud is set to tell real-life stories of the trailblazers

and future-makers from Central Victoria’s LGBTQIA+ community.

“Thrive have a new verbatim theatre piece about real queer people’s lives which would be great to see,” Mr Richards said.

For a $5 ticket, Black Apple Theatre’s production is a live reading of the script as the cast and crew continue to refine the play and stories contained within it.

There will also be an opportunity to join the cast and crew for a discussion after the performance.

 

Faith and Pride: Religion and Homosexuality

Australia’s first openly gay imam and founder of Marhaba – a Muslim LGBTQIA+ social support group – Nur Warsame, and Anglican Church priest and assistant clergy at St Paul’s Cathedral Bendigo Reverend Noel Richards are set to discuss faith and sexuality.

“We have organised a discussion with a gay priest and a gay imam, which I’m really excited about looking at homosexuality and religion and how they intersect,” Mr Richards said.

Secure your tickets early to ensure your spot for the forum, set to take place at The Engine Room on 14 March at 2pm.

 

Kate McCartney and Sally Rugg In Discussion

Towards the end of the festival, to take place 27 March from 12pm to 2pm at The Engine Room, catch power couple Kate McCartney and Sally Rugg in conversation about their lives as creatives, activists and partners through it all.

“We’re bringing writer, director, illustrator, animator, podcaster and performer Kate McCartney from the Katering Show here with her partner, Sally Rugg is an LGBTIQ activist and former GetUp creative and campaigns director to interview each other,” Mr Richards said.

“These are the sort of events we’re running that you won’t see anywhere else.”