The title of this recording is "Julian Cook - Auckland Pride Festival 2013". It is described as: Pride Festival Co-ordinator Julian Cook talks about some of the sixty events happening during the Auckland Pride Festival 2013. It was recorded in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand on the 3rd February 2013. Julian Cook is being interviewed by Gareth Watkins.  Their names are spelt correctly but may appear incorrectly spelt later in the document. The duration of the recording is 38 minutes. A list of correctly spelt content keywords and tags can be found at the end of this document. A brief description of the recording is: In this podcast Pride Festival Co-ordinator Julian Cook talks about some of the sixty events happening during the Auckland Pride Festival 2013. For more details about the Pride Festival visit their website. The content in the recording covers the decades 2000s through to the 2010s. A brief summary of the recording is: In the podcast titled "Julian Cook - Auckland Pride Festival 2013," recorded in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, Julian Cook, the Pride Festival Coordinator, discusses the comprehensive scope of the Auckland Pride Festival 2013 with interviewer Gareth Watkins. This festival marked a significant resurgence of major pride events in New Zealand, with the last full-scale hero event having taken place in 2001. Cook explains the festival's extensive program, which includes around 60 diverse events, not including ongoing seasons and exhibitions. The assortment of events reflects the community's need and desire to express and explore its identity in 2013. Cook highlights the inclusiveness by featuring sporting to lifestyle events and sexual expression to outdoor film nights. Despite the dark history that followed the last hero event of 2001, described as the "Dark Hero party," the community has shown readiness to engage in a renewed, brighter Pride Festival. Cook delves into the difficulties of community reaction, financial crises, and the need for time and energy to move forward after past challenges. Cook's responsibilities included coordinating nearly the entire festival except for the parade, which was managed by Jonathan Smith. The coordination involved engaging with event organizers, hustling activities that were self-running into the program, and new entities that required nurturing and support. Cook touched on the significance of engaging youth in the festival, acknowledging a generational gap that missed experiencing pride festivals. The goal was to imbue them with the necessary skills to participate and possibly manage future events. Challenges included convincing established events to join the umbrella of the Pride Festival, which involved overcoming insular attitudes within smaller community niches. Cook posited that for a stronger, united community, there need to be collaborative efforts to bring disparate groups together. Securing sponsorship for the festival proved to be arduous due to the tight economic situation, yet some companies did step up to support the community. Cook took pride in pulling together an impressive range of exhibitions, performances, debates, and dialogues that sought to foster community interactions, promote visibility, and stimulate cultural discussions. One of the highlights discussed was the Pride Festival gala, which offered a taste of the various events that the festival would cover. Cook also discussed the festival's inclusivity by spreading events across Auckland, highlighting the community's presence in diverse areas of the city. The podcast further explores the financial accessibility of the events, many of which were free or had a nominal entrance fee, and the multitude of artistic performance events that were part of the festival. From theatre productions like "Black Faggot" to visual arts exhibitions within close proximity for convenience, the festival was curated to be as engaging as possible for the community. The discussion concluded with Cook's reflection on the importance of pride events, emphasizing their potential in building a cohesive and healthier community by providing a common platform that celebrates diversity and unity. The full transcription of the recording begins:  Uh, we're in Mount Albert Road in Auckland, and we're at the sort of pseudo pride HQ, which is my home and home office. Um, and this is kind of, um, the sort of marketing and festival hub where it all sort of comes out of basically. So this time around, What? What's your role with pride? Uh, I'm the Pride festival coordinator. So I'm pretty much responsible for everything except for the big parade, Uh, which Jonathan Smith is doing, uh, which I'm really grateful for because, um, he's, um, incredibly organised and incredibly onto it. And it means that that particular event, with the exception of perhaps the marketing aspects of it, I don't have to worry about at all, which is wonderful. So this pride festival in 2013, this is kind of like the first major kind of pride event we've had in New Zealand since What hero in the early two thousands. Yeah, I would say, probably since 2001, Um, which was the last full scale hero. Um, that was the year that I did the big, uh, party at the Auckland Town hall and then subsequent to that there was all of the financial crises. And by 2002, um, the hero and and the feeling around hero had changed completely, and it it had become quite dark. I actually ended up doing the 2002 party as well, um, in the Saint James Theatre, and it's often called the Dark Hero party. And actually, it was very dark and very intellectual. And the reason for that, um, was because the artists that I was working with, um that was how they were feeling and how they were expressing themselves through their art. Um, on that night and it it did wind up being quite I found it fascinating. I had DJ S and stuff coming up to me around some of the shows going, Oh, my God, that is the most conceptual crazy show I think I've ever seen at a gay dance party. And, um, I love that, But for some people, it was a bit heavy. What is the, uh, community reaction been to to do something like a pride thing? That, because I mean hero did kind of burn out a wee bit in the two thousands? What kind of response? have you had from the kind of rainbow community it did and there needed to be a there needed to be a space. There needed to be some time, um, for the community to get over hero, um, to figure out what it wanted moving forwards and to, um, get that energy store moving forwards and that desire to move forwards. And, um, it really has I mean, there's 60 quite 60 completely different events within this year's festival. Um, that's not including season runs and exhibition runs and things like that. So, um, that in itself speaks for the community's real need, um, and desire to express itself and to explore who it is in 2013. Um, so, yeah, II, I think there is. I think that demonstrates the need for it. So are you seriously saying that you've pulled together 60 events to a large degree? Um, there's there's those that are out there that, um, would be happening anyway. Like obviously they get it on big gay out, um, heroes out west. These things have gardens. I'm really sort of happy to have them back within a pride or a gay festival for the first time in over a decade. I think, um, they were originally part of hero and then became really distanced from the gay events and have come back under the umbrella this year for the first time in a long time. So there are those things that are out there already. But then there's, um when I first was given the position, the very first thing I did was realise how short the timelines were and, um went out and started hustling with event organisers and possible promoters and people who do stuff and, um, just getting them infused and in some cases, um, elbowing them into action. So when were you given the the role? God, When was it? I think it was in October, September October, which actually, when you think about it is not, you know, that's not a long time ago. Yeah, so that was the very first thing I did was starting to engage with people before I got into any of the paperwork aspects or the administrative side of things. The first thing I wanted to ensure was that we had a programme and we do in quite an extensive programme. I mean, it goes for about 2. 5 weeks. It's two weeks. Three weekends. Yeah, yeah. So 60 different individual events within that time. It's There's a lot on. And the interesting thing for me about doing, uh a a large, um, pride style festival is that you don't just focus on music. You don't just focus on art, you've it's really broad. So you've got everything from sporting events to lifestyle events like the Gardens or, um, the dog event that Stephen Oates is doing and right through to, um, sexuality style events, Um, and big outdoor film nights. And it's the variety is mammoth. And, um, that's what I personally really enjoy about it is actually being able to engage that diversity and, um, make it tangible. Were you involved in any way in picking the theme of of the Pride Festival this year? Which was, I think, was it one community? That's the theme for the parade, right? Um, and basically, it's quite interesting. That was Jonathan's, um, that was his his working and his doing. Um, and I have to say I, I had to. I came in and said, OK, great, like there's a theme for the parade. It works really, really well, because actually, what the parade is about is taking the different strands of all the different communities and tying them together into one big rope that goes down Ponsonby Road. So in many ways, one community does express what it sort of physically does. Um, the festival is the exact opposite of that. The festival is about picking apart the strands and, um, actually exploring all of the real differences. Um, within all of the different communities that make up the rainbow community. Um, there are a few events within the festival in which there's a coming together, Um, for example, the Auckland Pride gala or the big closing Proud Party. Those are again events where you want the communities to come together. Um, but for the most part, the festival is actually about exploring differences. How easy or hard was it finding, uh, participants for the festival? Um, not that hard, Really. I mean, I've Like I said, I think there was a real a real desire and a real need to for the community to express itself and to have a platform to do that from, um Also, I've been doing this for a long, long time, so I've got a lot of, um a lot of connections. Um, within an event. Organisers and artists and producers within the queer communities. Um, and also, I mean a lot. A lot of these are some of my best friends. So, um, for me, engaging with them is actually a very easy process. Have you found that that that that many people actually are coming to you and saying we want to be part of this or have you been having to kind of hunt people down a bit of both? Um, yeah. No, a bit of both. Um, the interesting one for me is the sort of my key learning in that area this year would have to be youth. And, um, the realisation that young people, there's been a whole generation, if not two, who haven't had the opportunity to engage in a pride festival or a gay festival of this nature. Um and so for them, it's a steeper learning curve about how they go about, um, engaging and, um, hopefully, you know, they've They've picked up some skills this year and that will increase next year and and the year after. Um I mean, for example, I just had a, uh, emails from a young lesbian woman, Um, just last week asking if she could get into the programme. And it's like, Well, you're a month and a half too late. Um, so you try to engage them in other ways, but it's just even knowing how a festival works and the timelines involved and how you go about engaging and what it what's required and organising your own event. Well, these are all skills that, um they will hopefully be learning and picking up. Um, this year, what has it been like trying to get established events that have been going on for years? So, like the big gay art or or others into the festival, Um, it's sometimes it's really easy. Sometimes it's really challenging. Um, and it takes a while. I mean, this is the first year of of a big gay festival coming back, and so you're faced with a lot of sort of first time festival questions. Um, sort of OK, is this something that I want to engage with? Is it going to be of a quality that I'm happy to engage with, um is will it allow me the autonomy to still have my own event within that, um, and hopefully the answer to all those questions is yes. Um, but, you know, sometimes you also come up against I think sometimes the the New Zealand gay community, um, can be very insular and very sort of internally focused and focused on because it's made up of so many niche communities. Sometimes they focus so much on their own small group that it's hard to get them to see the big picture. And so you are occasionally faced with Well, I mean, sometimes you just and this is true of of other cities around New Zealand as well. You're actually faced with small minded small town bullies who, um, run aspects of their community and who really aren't prepared to share that or to engage with other aspects of, of, of the broader community. Um, and dealing with them is actually really, really difficult, and they a lot of them have been around for a long time, and they've become really OK. They've become really sort of stuck in their mindset, and it's really challenging them. It's really challenging for them to actually have to step back and go OK. By engaging with this, I can actually help a broader community. I can bring what I do into a broader sort of. I can widen it. Um, and I can I can make the community stronger as a whole, and it's not always easy getting them to see that, Um, a lot of them are stuck in their ways, And, um so that is for me. That's a really, really, really challenging aspect of it. And I think it's worth putting that challenge out there and just saying, OK, you guys who've been around for a while sometimes you actually have to take your heads out of the sand and actually look around a little bit and go, OK, what I do is really great for my part of the community, but I can also use that strength and use that use that use what I've developed over time to help a broad the broader community, and to show that we're you know, that we we can all work together and, um so that's a challenge that I'm quite happy to put out there. I guess. One of the issues for um, a person that had has run a successful event over many years and then coming into pride would be that, um, you know, is pride going to be around next year? Is it sustainable? Yeah, Well, it's it's a good question. Um, a lot of it depends on on council support and council funding, and, um, that the council is prepared to acknowledge that we are a large We're a significant community within the within the mainstream community and that, um, we deserve to have our own festival and to have that supported by our civic leaders. And it seems that they are finally realising this and, um, I, I do hope that that continues. I think that for an inaugural festival, we've proven that, um, there is a real need and a real desire for this community to engage, um, with itself, but also to provide colour and fun and vibrancy and, um, quality and cultural cultural realness to the broader community that that that community can participate and experience as well. So, um, is it sustainable? Well, hopefully we'll see. I mean, I'm certainly not. I wouldn't have engaged in this if I thought it was a shot in the dark. Once off, I'm really not interested in that. Um I'm interested in particularly this year, creating a template that, um can be used as that will help to future pride festival organisers. Um, to do what I'm doing this year. Uh, I think that's really important. I mean, I've had to create everything from scratch this year, and that makes, um, the job really, really, really hard. So, uh, if I leave anything as a result of this year's festival, I hope that it is, um, some templates and some systems and some sort of process that will help future pride festival organisers. Are you aware of kind of up and coming, um, organise type people that that that do this kind of thing? Yes and no. Is the answer to that question? Um, I've worked with a lot of, uh, a lot of young gay and lesbian people who have an interest in organising events over the years. The sad reality for me around that is that the very best of them have left New Zealand. Um, and, uh, for the most part, are living in Australia now, Um, and so Yeah, it's It's a that's a big That's a big question is OK. I need to create a system whereby I can actually engage young people, um, in a formal way to train them to get them experienced. Um, in putting this kind of event together so that when I am well and truly rinsed out and exhausted, which shouldn't take too long, um that they can take take that over and run with that, and I will always be there to support them. But, um, it's really, really important that, um that those that those people are coming through, I and, um, and are challenging me for the role. And, um, maybe perhaps making me up my game a little bit. Um, pushing me a little bit further would be really, really, really cool. Um, but yes, there is a vacuum there at the moment, and it's a vacuum that I'm particularly keen to see. Um, filled. Can we just go through, um, some of the events now in the in the in the Pride Festival, because, I mean, there are so many things happening, and I'm guessing the the first thing would be the gala. The first thing is the gala. Um and I've been working with, uh, very George and Lisa Prager on this event. Um, they were actually the producers of the first, uh, hero gala many, many years ago at Sky City. Uh, which they did a fantastic job of, um, so I thought, OK, well, let's bring in some old hands. It's the first year back. So, um, I think they would be an excellent choice to work with. Um and this particular event is also the interesting thing for me is that it's hosted by Sam Johnson. Um, he's an absolutely remarkable young man. He was the leader of the Christchurch Student Volunteer Army. He's the current young New Zealander of the year. Um, and he's an out and proud young gay man. And, um, I'm really honoured to have him opening the festival. Um, it's just nice to put a very youthful face out front. Um, and a face of the future, I think, in the gala itself is the smallest board of stuff we can expect in the in the It's a really good description. It's a It's the best of the fest. Absolutely. It's, um, it's a tasting and a sampling of, um, all of the best stuff. So, um yeah, it's a cool event and the kind of ratio between, like, established acts and maybe some newer performers. What? What? What is that like? Because, obviously, you've got Mika here from so will be doing the big Maori opening. Um, because he's very much a status these days, and he will, um, he'll smack me in the head for saying that, but he'll do the big opening, and then the mayor hopefully will be, uh, doing his official opening of the festival as well. And then it goes into a broad range of acts everything from the sort of really established and, um, some acts from overseas as well from Australia. Um, right through to the more, more community style, um, things, segments that represent the parade which involve people that aren't necessarily used to being on a stage. But, um, Lisa and Verity are really, really good at, um, directing and organising these these these smaller pieces within the SMS board. Um and, um, yeah, so it's It's a it's right across the board. Really? What about some of the theatre works that that are happening? Well, for me, one of the ones That's most exciting is black faggot, Um, which is Victor Rogers piece. And, um, when I first heard about this, I thought, My God, this has to be in the festival. It's really, really exciting. He started writing this piece, uh, way back when destiny Church was doing the enough is enough marches. And he started writing a series of monologues, Um, as a response to that. And then when the marriage equality bill, um, came up, it was kind of an impetus for him to finish the piece off. And so it kind of it's a series of monologues that spans that kind of decade. Um, but particularly focused as a response to, um, the Pacific Island Church and the Pacific island community And how they deal with, uh, with gay and que queer issues. Um, which is often, um, really fraught. Um, so it's a very hard hitting piece, and I think it's a very culturally important piece, very. And I'm really proud to have it within the festival. Another performance in here is, uh, Poly Fuller. I saw in Wellington a year or so ago, uh, which is a really fantastic show. Well, Polly's, um, Polly's one of our most interesting drag performers. She is obviously a Wellington and a New Zealand icon, and, um then she's travelled over to Australia and she's become, um, quite established in Melbourne in particular. And, um, the interesting thing with Polly is how that she can. She extends her drag outside of the sort of the norm of of lip synching or nightclub shows. And, um, she is able to do fully fledged cabaret shows and fully fledged theatre shows. Um, and really take her art form to another level. Um, and I've always sort of relished working with her on and that from that perspective, so really, really, really happy to have, um, Polly in the festival. There's a whole range of venues that these things are on at, and, um, that's quite nice. It's kind of peppered right the way around the kind of central Auckland area. Yeah, there's actually a map at the back of the programme that shows you how far the festival travels and it travels everywhere from It's obviously well, it get. It centres a lot on Ponsonby and on K Road, which is, I think, a natural place for, um the queer communities to centre on. But then it spreads right the way out to Henderson out west, um, out into Mount Albert and then all the way, Sort of, um, out into the gulf and, uh, over to Waiheke Island. So the it just it kind of shows you that, um, gay people are everywhere and that they're they want to engage and express themselves in their own local areas. And, um, for me, that's fantastic. It really speaks volumes about, um, the strength of our communities within Auckland. So was that a conscious decision to have the venues in in very diverse areas rather than kind of trying to pull it all together? It kind of just It kind of worked out that way. That's the natural way that it happened. But, um, for me, it's a real bonus because, um, you know, out West Henderson, Sometimes those places, they have a bit of a reputation as being, you know, one of the more redneck areas of Auckland. And it's just not the case. It's, um they are as embracing of parts of our community out there as we are in the inner city. Um, and Auckland is very much a cosmopolitan place these days. So it's a reflection of that, really. One of the other things that strikes me just looking through the programme is that the ticket prices are actually quite reasonable when it comes to like, if if you're going to a mainstream theatre production, you're talking maybe 35 $40. Um, we're here. We're looking at about $2025. It's I think it's, um, sensible and important in this day and age. I think that the reality of the economy at the moment is that, um, people are financially stretched, and, um, we want to make it as easy as possible for them to engage in their festival. Um, so, yeah, that's an important aspect of it. The other thing is, out of those, um, 60 different events within the festival. 20 of them are free. Um, and I think that that's, uh, that's a really interesting statistic as well. What are some of the free events? Um, gosh, everything from the big day out, um, through to a range of, uh, art exhibitions. And there's, uh, a movie night. Uh, Priscilla, queen of the desert has been done in silo cinema down in the quarter. Um, there's a whole range of lesbian walks and, gosh, this dog shows And there's a huge range of stuff that that's free and that people can engage in at no cost. What is the dog show? Because you mentioned it a couple of times. Yeah, that's, um that's something that Stephen Oates and I started talking about and working on. Um, I'm a bit of a cat freak myself. So the dog thing a bit sort of alien to me. But, um, Stephen is, uh has his has his I mean, his dog Ruby is the sort of surrogate partner in his life. And, um so he's really big on on dogs and wanted to do something in that way. So we developed that, and we got a sponsor on board for it. And, um, it's looking like it'll be a really real. It's actually on the last day of the festival, and it's looking like it's a hell of a fun way to finish things up. Very camp. What has it been like trying to get sponsorship for for the various events? It's the most difficult aspect of, uh, festival production at this stage. Um, just in this particular year. Uh, the as I said, the economy is is tight, and that's tight for companies in terms of their ability to invest, um, in sponsorship and in partnerships and engaging with communities in ways that are a little bit, um, you know, less tangible. Um, so, yeah, it's been difficult, but we've, you know, we've we've got some really staunch supporters out there, um, who have come on board. Companies like ACON 28 black, um, the new energy drink have been absolutely fantastic in their support and have put their hands into their pockets, um, to support our community. Um, and that's been that's been really amazing. Highlights on the cabaret performance. Do you have any highlights that you want to? Um well, it's always a highlight. Working with Mika, Um, he's got salami, um, at, uh, switch bar, which is Wayne Clark's new venue on Kang Happy Road. And, um, that's, uh, the sort of typical atypical, um, melange of, um, sexiness. Um Then there's also gobsmacked, which is coming over from Australia. Um, that's Jamie Burgess, who's an expat kiwi who's moved to Australia and his cabaret partner, Nicky Aitkin. And they're bringing their show back to back to New Zealand. So really happy to have that, um, within the festival, there's also one night only which, um is buckwheat and testicle, which is actually a piece that I developed with them. Oh, about maybe 12 to 18 months ago. And we did it as part of late at the Auckland Museum. And it's a behind the scenes kind of wigs off kind of, um, exploration of their particular Pacific and Maori House of drag in Auckland, which has been a very iconic house of drag in Auckland. It's included everybody from the great beer, um, to the late great um, Bus Stop and Bay slut. Um, and it's been a really a heart of drag in Auckland for, you know, 20 years. And so it's a look back, a candid look back at how how that came about And, um, and and what that entails. So it's a really interesting piece, that one and just a short jump from cabaret to music, you've got quite a selection of of kind of musical performances going on. Um, tell me about some of them. Gosh. Um, well, it's great to have girls in the mix. They're performing at the Auckland Art Gallery, Um, the gay and lesbian singers. And they're actually celebrating a, um they're celebrating a big birthday of the gallery itself, so that's quite cool. And that's free as well. Yes, that's free. Um, here is out west. It's lovely to have sissy and the ladies, um, involved, um, in the festival. Marie Sheehan is back on the scene and releasing a new album. Great to have her. The Johnny, um, are doing two gigs and they're also performing at here out west. They're a, um, all girl all Johnny Cash Group from Nelson. So that's, um that's kind of quirky, and they're really, really cool. So really, um, into having them. And then one piece that I helped develop quite early on with Samuel Holloway, um, is after Lilburn, which is an exploration of New Zealand, uh, classical composers, Uh, right the way from Douglas Lilburn. Um, right the way through Jack Body Gareth far, um, and Samuel Holloway himself and then into an even younger generation than Samuel. So it's a bit of a timeline of gay, uh, composers, um, from Douglas. Little through till today, and I think it might. I think it's probably the only the first time that, um that has been explored thematically. Um, and I think it's important that it is. I think that's a really important piece within the festival. It's an important acknowledgement of, um, the impact that, uh, gay composers have had on New Zealand music. I'm just wondering how you get your head around organising all of these different types of events. You know, going from music to theatre to cabaret. They've all got very specific needs and and and wants how how do you do it? Um, I kind of do it naturally. I I guess I have a broad range of interest. And, um, like I said, I really like the diversity. I think that the I think that the diversity is what makes our community really interesting rather than the homogenization. So for me, being able to shed light on the really different niches and nooks and crannies, um, of our communities, that's the joy for me, really looking forward to some of these group exhibitions. Visual exhibitions you've got here. Yeah, that's one of the That's, um, a programming aspect that I'm quite proud of because I've managed to pull those exhibitions all into one particular, um, area down the Kanga happy road end of Ponsonby Road. And so, um, there's, I think, four exhibitions and, um, and one, large projection installation, and they're all within walking distance of each other. So people who who have an interest in visual arts, um can actually get around and spend an afternoon or a morning, Um, exploring all these different exhibitions without having to get into the car and go anywhere. Um, which I think is a real positive. When you were approaching these artists, what was the response in terms of being part of a a pride festival? Um, well, some of some of these ones have come to me and others. I've approached, um, generally just really positive, really happy to be involved and, um, really eager to have been approached and that somebody's actually offering them a format that they can plug into, Um, because you know you often you need to accept that artists aren't often event organisers that they it's a very rare artist. Um, who is really good at the production management side of things as well. Um, so to provide them with a platform and with AAA and the exhibitions case a space that they can work with. And, um, they're only too happy to get stuck in. And, uh, and, um, express themselves. You also have, uh, quite a number of events. Uh, in the the kind of dialogue and debate area. Um, tell me about some of those. Uh, well, a couple of them are the New Zealand Society of Authors. Um, coming forward with a couple of events, uh, exploring, um, gay and lesbian writers and, um one, which is a debate in which they're exploring the relevance of, um, relevance of all blacks as New Zealand cultural icons to our communities and so that that's, uh, no doubt going to be an interesting one. on the debate front, there's also, um, the Great Auckland Pride debate, which Stephen Oates and Paul Rose have pulled together. And, um, that is putting the two sort of, um, grand dames of, um Well, I shouldn't say that they're a bit young for that, Um maybe of New Zealand politics, um, together, which is, uh, Nikki Kaye and Jacinda Ardern, who are both representatives for Auckland City and who both sort of do battle on an on an election front. Um, putting them together to debate, um, queer issues in a fun way, um, with their own panels as well. So that that'll be an interesting event. And one that's just caught my eye is the, uh, the the lesbian Heritage walk by the Charlotte Museum. Yes, that's, uh, something that Miriam Sofia came forward with. And, um, it's something that she has done previously as part of the Auckland Heritage Festival. Um, so she was only too happy to bring that into a a sort of pride context. So that'll be, Yeah, that's a really, really cool and unique event as well, and then moving on to sport and recreation. And there are a number of things that are kind of out and about to me, some about some of those. Well, at one stage, I did put a call out saying it would be nice if we had some gay men who wanted to engage in some sporting events because they're all women at the moment. Um, but we we've ended up with a variety, um, that incorporates, uh, women's softball. A tennis tournament. Um, there's Auckland cycle Pride is something that I've developed with, um, board member, um, Christopher Dempsey. And that is a very sort of positive, healthy, um, cycling parade in a way that will travel on the day of the big day, out from the Auckland Museum and along Ponsonby Road and Road and all the way out to Coyle Park and wind up at the big Gay out. So that's a really cool event, and one that I hope will grow over time. And then there's also the fairy flotilla, um, which is a group of gay and lesbian Boies who are getting together to farewell the Amsterdam um, gay cruises that's departing from, uh, departing from down in Prince's Wharf on the 20th of February as it heads off to Mardi Gras. So they're actually going to go out on Mass and all of their boats and, um, farewell them and then meet up for a bit of a bit of a party around the corner. So, um, that's a really cool event, too. Speaking of parties, one of your big things is organising the the last dance party. How's that going? Amazingly, um, that it's something that personally excites me because I've, you know, I've got a bit of a history with regards to producing sort of epic gay dance parties, I guess. And, um, this one is certainly poised to be epic as well. It's the interesting thing with this one is the venue, um, which is the the beautiful and historic Victoria Park Market. And the courtyard has just been fully renovated, so it's looking absolutely stunning. Now, as part of those renovations, um, Pack and Company have created two large bars, sort of at the top end of the markets. Uh, LA, um which is a big New York loft style, um, bar with a huge deck off the back of it. Um, that sort of comes out over the courtyard. And then there's libertine, which is a really, really gosh beautiful and quirky and alternative space. Um, and they just they have. They've spent a lot of money on these spaces. They're absolutely stunning. So being able to combine those with the big Victoria Park courtyard through internal staircases for the first time, um, is like a an opportunity I was not going to back away from, um the other thing that Victoria Park has come forward with is because it's still being renovated. There's a whole floor of, uh, of a building in there that is kind of gutted, and it's all sort of concrete and rough and raw and like a bunker with pillars everywhere. It's huge. And, um, they've said that I can use that as well. So that's going to put a big, hard, fast and heavy dance floor in there. And that will be sort of going back to the sort of early kind of really rough garage rave type feeling, um, so it's great to be able to bring something like that into the party as well, as well as the kind of sort of high end, um, glamour that's going on in the lira and libertine bars. And then you've got the courtyard with the huge chimney, which is going to be lit up in rainbow colours and, um, a large stage at the bottom of it with, um, community performances, um, by everybody from test tickle and the, uh, South Auckland vogan girls who are amazing, um, through to Christopher, who was a semifinalist in New Zealand's got talent this year, and the amazing Miss Floss, who from queer who is a fantastic performer. And all of her, um, sort of of girlie burlesque artists. That's the big girly show. That one. That'll be really cool. So, um, we're, like, a week and a bit out from when pride starts less than that. We We are about six days away from the gala right now. So if this interview is a little incoherent, you'll just I apologise. I was gonna ask, How are you feeling? Um, mentally. Ok, um, physically, a little bit exhausted. Um, getting the sort of physical reality of getting 30,000 programmes out around the city and around the country, um is, uh, an exhausting actuality. Um, but we've done it and, um, you know, So you're trying to do that You're trying to market the other shows you're trying to deal with the huge sort of online need for marketing these days. Um, and all of the other sort of requirements and requests, so it's physically quite exhausting, but, um, we're getting We're getting there for you. How do you judge whether this festival is a success or not? Can you ask me that after the festival? Um, I guess to a degree for me. It already is. And in the in the way that people have engaged with it. Um, and just in in getting that programme onto the streets and looking at the diversity that's within it and the quality that's within it. Um, yeah, that that that is a an an early sign of the festival's success. Obviously, the other sign will be how many people actually engage, um, and and actively participate through the festival while it's on. Um, but we won't know that until afterwards. Um, the parade is one of the most interesting aspects of that in terms of the numbers that actually show up for that. And, um, and how it goes. So, um, we'll have to wait and see. Why do you think things like pride are important? Um, I just think that it's, you know, we're a grown up community now, and, um, we deserve a a sort of grown up festival that, um reflects and explores who we are like any other. Um, part of the community does, and I think that pride is, um is a way of doing that. And, you know, there's also there's all the important aspects around, um dealing with issues around the around, homophobia around sort of youth, suicide and, um, helping young people with self esteem around their gay or lesbian. Um, I think that those issues remain and they're really, really important to address. Um, it's a really good way for organisations like the New Zealand AIDS Foundation to, um, engage with the community off the back of of these kinds of things as well. And if we if we all work together and um if it's an you know, examples are the fact that you know, the NZAF has been really successful with the Get it on big day out for, I think, 14 years now and so to bring that in under the umbrella, to bring heroic gardens and under the Pride umbrella to bring New Zealand Bear Week under the Pride umbrella. By working together, we actually create a stronger and more cohesive and more healthy community for everybody. The full transcription of the recording ends. A list of keywords/tags describing the recording follow. These tags contain the correct spellings of names and places which may have been incorrectly spelt earlier in the document. The tags are seperated by a semi-colon: 2000s ; 2010s ; Ahilapalapa Rands ; Alex Plumb ; Alex Taylor ; All Blacks ; Annea Lockwood ; Aorewa Mcleod ; Aotearoa New Zealand ; Ash Spittal ; Auckland ; Auckland Art Gallery ; Auckland Pride Festival ; Australia ; Beth Hudson ; Big Gay Out (Auckland) ; Black Faggot (play) ; Buckwheat ; Cathy Head ; Christchurch ; Colin McLean ; Coming Up ; Deborah Rundle ; Douglas Lilburn ; Events ; Fran Marno ; GALS (Gay and Lesbian Singers, Auckland) ; Gobsmacked: Showbiz and Dating ; God ; Hero (Auckland) ; Heroes Out West (Auckland) ; Heroic Gardens ; Imogen Taylor ; Jack Body ; Jamie Burgess ; Job ; Jodi Pringle ; John Parker ; Jonathan Smith ; Julian Cook ; Kitsch in Synch ; Layne Waerea ; Lisa Prager ; Maree Sheehan ; Marriage Equality ; Melbourne ; Mika X ; Miriam Saphira ; Nelson ; New Zealand AIDS Foundation (NZAF) ; Nikki Aitken ; Pacific ; People ; Ponsonby ; Ponti ; Pride parade (Auckland) ; Queerlesque ; Salon Mika ; Sam Johnson ; Samuel Holloway ; Sarah Murphy ; Space ; St James Theatre ; Steven Oates ; Stuff ; Sue Marshall ; Tess Tickle ; The Johnnys ; The Muse ; Tuafale Tanoa'i ; Verity George ; Victor Rodger ; Wellington ; Youth ; army ; artist ; arts ; bars ; birthday ; board ; bottom ; building ; burlesque ; cabaret ; camp ; choice ; church ; cinema ; community ; connections ; council ; crying ; cycling ; dance ; dance party ; desire ; directing ; diversity ; dog ; drag ; economy ; energy ; equality ; event management ; exhibition ; face ; farewell ; film ; friends ; fun ; funding ; future ; gallery ; gay ; glamour ; hell ; heritage ; herstory ; history ; homophobia ; hope ; icons ; individual ; ladies ; lesbian ; lifestyle ; love ; mainstream ; marketing ; marriage ; mayor ; music ; nature ; opportunity ; other ; parade ; parties ; performance ; politics ; pride ; queen ; queer ; rainbow ; reflection ; sad ; scene ; self esteem ; sexuality ; silo ; sissy ; softball ; spaces ; sponsorship ; sport ; strength ; success ; suicide ; support ; tennis ; the other side ; theatre ; time ; top ; travel ; truth ; venues ; visibility ; visual arts ; volunteer ; walking ; water ; wind ; women ; work ; writing ; youth. The original recording can be heard at this website https://www.pridenz.com/auckland_pride_festival_2013_julian_cook.html. The master recording is also archived at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, New Zealand.  For more details visit their website https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.1089514. Julian Cook also features audibly in the following recordings: "Julian Cook - Creating Our Stories". Please note that this document may contain errors or omissions - you should always refer back to the original recording to confirm content.