Save the Date: Auckland Pride Festival Is Bringing Burlesque, Beats and Joy to the Supercity in 2024

The Auckland Pride Festival has announced its first lineup for its 2024 event, and its packed to the brim with diverse, unique art for the queer community and its allies to indulge in, as well as creating space for advocacy and continuing Pride's long-term goal of progress for its community.

Now in its 11th year, the annual February celebration started as a few days of events for the queer community and has since grown into a month-long extravaganza, with hundreds of events taking place throughout the four jam-packed weeks.

The first big event of the festival will be Te Tīmatanga, on Thursday, February 1, 2024, doubling as the opening night party. Punters can expect a colourful show with touches of burlesque, featuring performances from talents like Rosanna Raymond and The Pacific Sisters, Kiriana Sheree and Pounamu Rurawhe, as well as a live set from South Auckland's rock and hip hop group, Valkyrie.

On Saturday, February 3, is Loud & Proud, a day full of musicians who are define themselves as anything but mainstream. This event is a showcase of some of the queer community's most unique artists, from the sound they produce to the person they may be — there's no rules at Loud & Proud.

New to the lineup in 2024 is Deepen*, a collaboration between Auckland Pride and The D*List — a website creating content for disabled people by disabled people. At Deepen* artists will perform digital poetry alongside activations which aim to ask the viewer what a "luxurious" space may look like, and what it means to be living in it.

As well as the long list of talented community-led and artist-driven events, the Pride Festival has its event pillars including the Big Gay Out, the literary festival Same Same But Different, the Pride Party and Pride March. These last two events will be taking place on Saturday, February 24, starting with the Pride March in Aotea Square. The community will commence their march through the centre city towards Britomart. Once in the square, it's party time, with the Pride Party kicking things off at 4.30pm and raging long into the night to the tunes of PATI AF, the headliner of the night.

Auckland Pride's co-director Julia Croft said the 2024 festival was "a love letter to the Queer Māma's that have come before us".

"This year we have been inspired to create spaces for collective dreaming, healing and nourishment," Croft says. "We hope these events offer us all space to come together and imagine new and better worlds, and new ways of being together, whether on a dance floor, in a march, on the stage or in a gallery."

Auckland Pride Festival 2024 will begin on Thursday, February 1, 2024. For a full lineup of events, head to the website.