File photo The Auckland Pride Festival Trust is nearing an announcement on the route of the inaugural Pride Parade. “We’re getting a lot of people saying ‘what’s happening, what’s happening’, understandably because it’s such good news for our community and we’ve got an enormous responsibility with $100,000 of ratepayers’ money to make sure we do it right,” co-chair Timothy McMichael has told the Auckland Council glbti reference group. He says the date of the parade, its timing and route will be confirmed within days, once the details are ironed out with ATEED. “We understand there’s a sense of excitement, elements of ‘what’s going on here’ … we’re very close. “ The parade will be part of a two week Pride Festival, which will include the Big Gay Out, an event which will continue to be run by the New Zealand AIDS Foundation. The other three key events will be a parade, a parade after party and a closing party. “I think for us as a Trust Board what’s really exciting is the opportunity for within this two week period, a whole lot of engagement with other organisations and institutions who want to come on board to play their own part in making this two week festival such a success, that people will be talking about for all the right reasons for some time after,” McMichael says.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 16th August 2012 - 2:59pm