GET ready to celebrate as the Bendigo Pride Festival is set to run for the fourth time, and it all gets underway today, Friday.<\/p>\n
Festival director John Richards said Bendigo Pride is a uniquely Bendigo event.<\/p>\n
\u201cBendigo being what Bendigo is, we thought we\u2019re much more an arts and culture festival, so we take the template of the Melbourne Comedy Festival and the Melbourne Fringe Festival as our guide,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it is very much about storytelling and also about communicating about the queer community\u2019s lives and our love of Bendigo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about embracing everybody and celebrating who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Richards said interest, and the number of events, in the festival has steadily grown since 2019.<\/p>\n
That event came after the Australian same sex marriage postal survey in 2017, in which the nation collectively voted in favour of legalising the unions.<\/p>\n
Mr Richards said the event has gone on from there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still building, every year it\u2019s been sort of doubling what it was the year before, but there are still people who don\u2019t know we exist,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving people involved is kind of the point.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about breaking down isolation, the mental health element is still there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more we make this town a place where allies also feel included, the safer it is for everybody and the more inclusive it is for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n