Auckland Pride among the only events of its kind going ahead amid Covid-19 pandemic
Friday, 29 January 2021
While Pride festivals worldwide were cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Auckland Pride was one of the last to go ahead before the world locked down.
Now it looks to be one of the first to return in all its glory, with more than 200 events taking place throughout the month of February.
Pride director Max Tweedie, who became involved with the festival after the restructuring of the board in 2018, said he wanted to create a festival where money wasn’t a barrier for anyone in the rainbow community.
Pride director Max Tweedie, who became involved with the festival after the restructuring of the board in 2018, said he wanted to create a festival where money wasn’t a barrier for anyone in the rainbow community.
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“I worked on how to make things more accessible to the community. There was a clear gap of representation within the programme, especially when it came to Māori and Pasifika communities, as well as the trans and intersex community,” he said.
“We want to create an environment where everyone can feel safe and included.”
Tweedie said one of the most memorable moments of Pride for him was during the Pride March in 2020.
“I had a parent come up to me and say thank you because her 10-year-old trans son got to hold the front of our massive trans flag, and she said it was the first time he got to feel proud and supported of who he was.”
Partnering for Pride
The two major partnerships for Auckland Pride 2021 are telecommunications company Spark and game developer RocketWerkz.
Government agencies Auckland Unlimited, New Zealand Major Events and Auckland Council helped to fund the parade.
Māori development lead and Proud@Spark Coordinator Riki Hollings said Spark had been involved with Pride for a couple of years now.
The idea had come about after the company partnered with OUTLine, a counselling support line for the rainbow community.
“Pride helped us to connect more with the community,” Hollings said.
Dean Hall, the chief executive of RocketWerkz, described his company’s partnership with Pride as still in its “infancy”.
He said he wanted to get involved as a way to help the rainbow community.
“I was an openly gay officer in the Air Force, but when I went into game development I think I went back into the closet a little because I didn’t want to be known as the ‘gay designer’,” he said.
“As time went on I realised I hadn’t really done much for my own community and I wanted to give back in some way, which is why we decided to get involved.”
Creating Pride took a village, Tweedie said.
“There's no way anyone could do this sort of job on their own, so I'm grateful for all the awesome support I've had.”
Ready for a celebration
Tweedie said the festival was getting central government funding for the first time ever, and the number of enquiries about the events from those living outside of Auckland was higher than ever before.
“Because of the borders being closed and the need for more domestic tourism, I think more people are interested in coming up this year,” he said.
“As soon as our full programme went live we had two events completely sold out in 72 hours. I was surprised because I thought the uncertainty of Covid may have put people off buying tickets so early.
“I think a lot of people are ready for a celebration.”
OUTline general manager Claire Black said the past year had been hard on everyone, and it was nice to have a chance to come together and celebrate again.
“I think there's a sense of joy to be able to come together like this after the lockdowns we faced in 2020.”
The importance of Pride
Hall said the festival is important, because if the rainbow community isn't visible more people would feel alone.
“We have to show our pride for those that don't have that yet and help young people who may be struggling get some pride too.”
Playwright and journalist Aroha Awarau said Pride is a chance to celebrate Auckland’s queer community.
“It’s a wonderful thing to have, and I think it’s an important time to reflect on how far we’ve come, but still acknowledge the fact homophobia does still exist.
“Every opportunity to celebrate ourselves is a wonderful thing, it's a chance to show the world we're proud to be queer.”
Events for all
The festival will play host to more than 200 events across Tāmaki Makaurau throughout February.
Tweedie said he is looking forward to a number of different events, including the China Pride festival, which will include a gala, night market, films and more.
“It's really exciting for me to see that subsection of our community grow so much,” he said.
“We have three Vogue balls this year as part of Pride. It's something which has flown under the radar for many years and has been amazingly under resourced, but for many of our community members it was a survival method.”
Tweedie said he is also excited for a number of the smaller events, like the Carribbean Pride carnival at Western Springs and the shows being held at Q and Basement Theatre.
“There's just so many good bits representing so many diverse communities.”
Hollings said one event he is excited about is the activist gala, as well as the dawn ceremony – Tuwheratanga and Big Gay Out.
Hall agreed: “I like any event where I can dance or take off my shirt, or both, so it’s gotta be the Big Gay Out for me.”
Awarau will be featured in the samesame but different writers' festival, and said he is looking forward to sharing his experiences as a gay writer with others.
Covid-19 proofing a festival
Plans are in place for the possibility of Auckland moving to alert level 2, 3 or 4 with little to no warning.
If Auckland is in level 2, the festival can go ahead with little to no changes – but some events may be postponed or moved to online.
In alert level 3, all events will either be postponed or moved to an online format, and in alert level 4, Auckland Pride will be cancelled.
Pride attendees are being reminded to wash their hands, stay home if sick and use the NZ Covid tracer app.
Tweedie said there had been a point around March and April 2020 when he felt as though there was no way the 2021 festival could go ahead.
“In the first lockdown there was so much uncertainty. I think by the second there was this understanding that we’d beaten it before, and we could do it again, but at the first one the entire world had shut down.
“Everyone was talking about the deepest economic crisis in a century, so I thought, there go our corporate partners, our government partners were losing money, so I thought that would be gone too.”
Tweedie said when he looked at the disaster budget it was “abysmal”, and for a while he thought there was almost no point in going ahead.
“There was this point where we just thought we were screwed. It was gutting, but we’re so lucky to be here now.”
Pride during a pandemic
Since February 2020, many Pride parades and events across the globe had to be cancelled or postponed due to Covid-19. It is still unclear whether many of them will go ahead in 2021.
While New Zealand is lucky enough to be able to host celebrations, many other countries have been forced to change or even cancel their events.
In Australia, the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras will go ahead in March, but a number of the parties and events were cancelled due to the risk a dance party could hold in terms of spreading the virus.
The parade is still set to take place and will also be televised so people can watch and celebrate safely from their homes across Australia.
Madrid Pride was forced to go virtual in 2020 due to the pandemic, and at this stage organisers are hoping it will be allowed to go ahead later in the year.
New York City’s Pride march also couldn't go ahead in 2020. It’s not yet known what will happen in 2021.
A full line-up of all the events throughout the month can be found on the Auckland Pride website.