Chritschurch Pride has not been held since May 2010 The organisers of Pride12, the first such event to be held in Christchurch since before the earthquakes, hope it will be a chance for the community to reconnect. Pride12 will be held over three weeks from 10 November until 1 December. The committee, led by Coordinator Anne Nicholson, says Pride12 is a chance for members of the community to have a break and enjoy themselves after the trying times over the last year and a half, which have left many anxious and under pressure. “Our festival has a big emphasis on fun in the hopes that this will help bring down the stress levels and take our minds of the day-to-day difficulties of living in Christchurch at the moment. “It’s also a chance for the queer community to reconnect with one another. The quakes fractured the Christchurch community and the queer community along with it. They took away so much of our infrastructure, the places we went and the activities we did to connect with each other. We hope Pride12 will be a big step towards rebuilding that.” While Pride 2010 was a huge success, Pride 2011 was in the planning stages when the February quake devastated Christchurch. It was put on hold. “Now that some level of normality has returned to life in Christchurch, we have decided not to wait for May – the traditional date for Christchurch Pride – to roll around. The time is right now for Christchurch to get up and party,” the Pride12 committee says. “We have a great team this year,” Anne Nicholson says. “The 14-strong committee has been working hard to ensure this is the best Christchurch Pride so far. As the coordinator, I am very proud of what we are developing. Every member of this team is a volunteer, giving up huge amounts of time and energy to get this festival off the ground and every one of them is putting their heart and soul into this event. This is my fourth year working on Pride, and I have never felt such commitment and dedication from the committee as I do this year.” You can see a full events guide here
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 23rd October 2012 - 4:42pm