Last night's Hero party at Auckland's St. James theatre brought Hero Festival 2007 events to a close, and now Festival organisers are expected to formally announce the return of the Hero Parade for next year's festival, writes Johnathan Marshall in the Herald on Sunday. An announcement about the parade's return was scheduled to be made at last night's party, but was delayed by the organisers. Michael Modrich of the Hero Brand Management Group says significant financial support has been offered for the event, but that “there is a large consultative process to go, which includes securing civic funding.” At this stage, the parade route plan includes both Ponsonby Road and Karangahape Road. Outspoken former mayor John Banks has pledged his support for the parade's resurrection, telling the Herald, “They can have their parade, no problem, so long as there is good quality behaviour and standards which are timeless". The biggest and last Hero Parade was held in February 2001, but a debt scandal that year meant it did not return the following year, and Hero organisers have since worked hard to regain financial and community confidence in the festival. A recent GayNZ.com self-selected, and therefore unscientific, poll indicated 72% of our readers might be in favour of the parade's return to Auckland. Ref: Herald on Sunday, GayNZ.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Sunday, 25th February 2007 - 12:00pm