Ever wanted to help organise a Pride Festival? Well now is the perfect time to get involved as Castlemaine Pride is seeking committee members for its 2024 event.
Castlemaine Pride Week returns in April 2024. This year organisers would like the community to help by encouraging some enthusiast new members to join the organising team, as well encourage venues and groups to host aligned events to make the celebration better than ever.
Castlemaine Pride was founded in 2018 as a way of saying thanks to the allies who supported the LGBTIQA+ community during the Marriage Equality Plebiscite in 2017 and to come to together to celebrate the diverse and wonderful LGBTIQA+ community in Mount Alexander Shire.
From that initial picnic, the event has grown each year to now include more than a week of separate events, with the goal to bring better inclusion to all ages and intersections of the LGBTIQA+ community.
What makes Castlemaine Pride different to other metropolitan and regional festivals is that organisers have managed to provide these events to the public for low or no cost, and with the help of sponsors and the committee would like to maintain this point of difference, enabling everyone equal access to all events.
Event organiser Sherene Clow is truly excited by the festival’s growth since 2018.
“We have a rich LGBTIQA+ community in Mount Alexander Shire and I love being a part of organising a range of celebrations that brings us together each year to connect as a community,” Sherene said.
“Last year we undertook community consultation about how our local LGBTIQA+ folk wanted the festival to look and how it should operate.
“This consultation resulted in several clear recommendations including that the operation of Castlemaine Pride to remain a program of Castlemaine Community House and that it should operate under a formal committee structure.
“This committee will oversee the Castlemaine Pride Picnic and support external events during the week. Now is the time to implement this new committee structure but in order to do that we need volunteers who would like to join.”
If you or your organisation would like to host a complimentary event between the dates of April 18 and 28, the committee would also like to hear from you to consider if they can include your activity in their calendar of events.
Last year the festival included a wide array of offerings including: The Bent Brushes Art Exhibition, Dancing Queens Dance Party at Boomtown Wines, Pub Sing at the Taproom, Stan Munro’s Vintage Drag in Mint Condition at the Theatre Royal as well as nine other events. The festival will see some repeat events this year, but the committee also hopes to add some new ones of interest to the calendar.
If you would like to be a committee member or host an event in 2024, email info@castlemainepride.org.au and ask for an application form.
Castlemaine Pride is a program of Castlemaine Community House in collaboration with Dhelkaya Health and Mount Alexander Shire Council.
