Overview
After a bleak COVID-cancellation last year, this February will see Tāmaki Makaurau turn into a rainbow-hued extravaganza celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies when Auckland Pride Festival makes its hotly anticipated return.
The full lineup for 2023's four-week festival has dropped, and it's loaded with over 100 events, showcasing music, theatre, visual arts, drag, comedy, literature, parties — and even a bit of touch rugby.
For many Aucklanders, the highlight of every festival is, of course, the annual Pride March. Running on Saturday, February 18 as its own standalone event, this year's march has a brand-new (and newly accessible) route — kicking off on Lorne Street and marching down Queen Street into Takutai Square. Pride festival's executive director Max Tweedie says this year is set to be bigger and better than ever, with the march marking "a powerful display of solidarity and community as we come together once more to demand further progress".
"We invite all of our communities to come together to share in the excitement and energy of the collective as we uplift the voices that are often forgotten or silenced to allow for an energetic display of liberation and celebration," he said.
Last year's online arts and cultural festival Te Tīmatanga is making its return in a brand-new IRL offering, this year returning for the whole month of Pride to celebrate the work and achievements of Aotearoa's takatāpui (queer) community through a series of public art installations.
For those in the mood for a boogie, we'd recommend kicking things off at Little Gay In (Friday, February 17) catering to those looking for a more intimate vibe at the city's newest music venue Big Fan. Then you'll want to check out Auckland Live's Pride in the Square (Feb 24-25) which sees community groups, DJs, drag artists and musicians from across Aotearoa descending on Aotea Square — and turning it into a club of epic proportions.
Nabulen Ignacio
Basement Theatre is, of course, running a month of queer programming, and you'll also be able to catch free community events, book swaps, high teas, picnics and more across libraries recreation centres and other Auckland Council-owned facilities across the month. Just remember to put Friday, February 10 in your diary — that's when you'll able to catch Silo Park's outdoor screening of recent Golden Globe-winner Everything Everywhere All at Once.
All that is only the tip of the iceberg — there are also exhibitions from galleries small and large, pottery workshops, poetry slams, drag performances, comedy nights and sports events. We'd recommend heading to the website for the full lineup and then getting out and about to support the queer community this February.
Auckland Pride Festival 2023 runs across Auckland from Wednesday, February 1 – Sunday, February 26. To find out more, head to the website and keep up to date on its social pages.
Top image: Sam Sutherland