The first wave of the open-access programme from Auckland Pride Festival 2021 has just gone live, with an incredible range of community created events spanning right across the city. Extending to the full month of February for the very first time, the community has embraced the 2021 theme – ‘Karanga Atu, Karanga Mai’ – responding with calls of activism, celebration, inclusivity, representation and more.

After a searing premiere at the NZIFF 2020, the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed local web-series Rūrangi has had a silver screen edit, due to hit cinemas nationwide in February. Kicking the Festival off in style, The Rainbow Carpet Tour of Aotearoa launches as part of Auckland Pride 2021, with a glittering gala evening at Rialto Newmarket on Wednesday 3rd, hosted by ASB and RainbowYOUTH as a fundraiser to support the essential work of the charity. Created by and starring gender diverse talent, Rūrangi is a triumph of trans representation both on and behind our screens, following trans activist Caz who returns home to small town New Zealand to reconnect with his roots.

For the first time Auckland’s Vogue Scene are battling it out across the Festival Programme, with the House of AITU hosting the return of the Thirst Trap Ball at Ending HIV’s Big Gay Out in Coyle Park on the 14th of February. Auckland Council’s Proud Centres Programme is headlined by the IMAN Ball, the first vogue ball to be hosted by the decorated House of IMAN, during the following weekend on the 19th of February. Finally, the return of the House of COVEN-CARANGI’s SUPREME Ball hosted on the 26th of February will light up the Atrium of the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki in the third Vogue Ball of the month. This Auckland Pride Festival Programme brings together the three houses before Auckland Arts Festival’s Legacy Ball in March.

An impressive array of theatre treads the boards as part of the 2021 Festival programme, including a hilarious line-up of comedies as part of the Summer at Q programme. Returning from the 2018 programme, the “cult classic in the making” [NZ Herald] Gays In Space gets an upgrade to Q’s main space Rangatira, featuring the full original cast (Chris Parker, Thomas Sainsbury, Blaise Clotworthy, Zak Enayat, and Daryl Wrightson) for a strictly limited two night season on Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th. Up in Loft from Thursday 11th – Saturday 20th, the new show from Pride favourites Gawky Productions Let’s Get Loco! promises to be a laugh-out-loud romp, directed by award-winning comedian Eli Matthewson, inspired by gay icons Ricky Martin and Kylie Minogue. The Q season sees the return of former Pride Gala director Jason Te Mete, with his provocative, funny, and heartbreakingly moving dramatic play Over My Dead Body: UNINVITED. Playing from Wednesday 24th – Saturday 27^th in LOFT the production is delivered by a fully LGBTQi+ cast, creative team, and crew. Inspired by panels from the NZ Memorial AIDS Quilt Project that were stitched with love to honour those who lost their battle with the ‘gay plague’, this story is a tender and poignant reminder for those who were around in the 80’s and a lesson for those who weren’t. 

Pride also returns to Basement’s Summer Programme, with founding member of the Coven Arts Collective Cypris Afakasi performing in their first solo show. HEtheyShe is a solo performance art, activation dance experience, that challenges the limitations of our tunnel visioned collective understanding of gender. Basement Artist in Residence Melody Rachel is also challenging the gender binary with I Wanna be Mark Wahlberg. This solo show seeks to understand the effects of her conservative Christian upbringing, where gender was presented to her as two very distinctly opposing things, and examines how these have carried forward into her experiences of identity. 

Also returning for Auckland Pride 2021 are Night of the Queer and Carnies and Queers, showcasing the more acrobatic side of queer performance, made possible with funding from the Pride & Spark Empowerment Initiative. Since launching at TAPAC in 2015, Night of the Queer has become a highlight of the Festival programme, offering a platform for some of Auckland’s most talented queer performers and emerging artists. For 2021 the cult classic takes on a magickal twist, featuring dazzling dance, extraordinary aerial artistry, sassy song, bold burlesque, divine drag and a huge dose of comedy from Thursday 4th – Saturday 13th. Then for one night only of Saturday 13th, Very Good At Falling present their queer take on circus at the Dust Palace, performed by their electic assortment of rainbow artists and musicians, both established and emerging. 

A total of 19 events in the first programme announcement have been funded through the collaboration between Auckland Pride and Spark, an initiative designed to remove barriers to participation by directly resourcing diverse event producers. Among the projects are the China Pride Festival, a festival-within-a-festival offering a full line-up of activities to coincide with Chinese New Year, including an Opening Gala, sports, markets, talks, films, and so much more! Also coinciding with Auckland’s Pride Month is Black History Month, both of which are being celebrated by Same Same but Black in ICONs – an exhibition celebrating the black pioneers of the rainbow community. Part exhibition, part education, part conversation, part celebration, part agitation; ICON 2021 is an online photography exhibition, podcast series, social media outreach and live stream pop up event.

Also among the projects are Gowns, Beautiful Gowns, a showcase of 13 Auckland drag artists and their perception of gender, fashion and art; the world premiere of Not As Simple As It Sounds, an interactive art and music installation from international artist Ivan Lupi; Body Positive Inc’s Circle of Love, a free picnic and poi workshop for people living with HIV at the Circle of Friends memorial in Western Springs; the revitalisation of Queerlesque, the variety show of drag and burlesque that was a K’Rd institution from 2010-2014, with this edition feature nine incredible artists; a non-white performers night Code Switch by House of Drag’s Medulla Oblongata for an extraordinary world of colour, and bathe in the delights of queer performance.

2021 marks the third year of Auckland Council’s Proud Centres project, which sees their arts, community, and event venues transformed to create hubs of pride in neighbourhoods across Tāmaki Makaurau. With free venue hire for producers, the Proud Centres are hosting a series of mini-festivals in their community hubs in Central Auckland, Onehunga, Mt Albert, Te Atatū Peninsula, and Ponsonby. With live music, markets, performances, and films as the summer evenings stretch on, rainbow talent and creativity will be celebrated in every corner of the city.

These events act as a preview for the programme, which also include the already announced opening karakia Tuwheratanga, the Pride Gala headlined by ballroom superstars Coven and Iman, the samesame but different Writers Festival, the annual Ending HIV Big Gay Out, the Pride March taking over Central Auckland from Albert Park to Aotea Square, and the Pride Party headlined by Randa and halfqueen. Stay tuned for even more to come, with the full programme to be announced on January 11. 

---

The Auckland Pride Festival 2021 runs from Wednesday 3 – Sunday 28 February, 2021

Final registrations close on December 20. Register an event at aucklandpride.org.nz/register/ 

Follow Auckland Pride’s channels to stay up-to-date:
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram

#AucklandPride #AKLPride

For further enquiries, please contact:
Max Tweedie, Auckland Pride – 027 868 0774 or [email protected]

---

Auckland Pride Festival: First Programme Announce 

TUWHERATANGA – A Call of Opening
Presented by Auckland Pride
Wednesday 3 February, 6AM
Maungawhau summit, Mt Eden

RŪRANGI THE MOVIE: RAINBOW CARPET TOUR
Presented by Autonomouse
Wednesday 3 February, 6PM
Rialto Newmarket, 167/169 Broadway, Newmarket

ICON
Presented by Same Same but Black
Wednesday 3 – Saturday 28 February
Online at samesamebutblack.org.nz

PRIDE GALA – A Call For Expression
Presented by Auckland Pride
Thursday 4 February, 8PM
Q Theatre – Rangatira, 305 Queen Street, Auckland Central

NIGHT OF THE QUEER
Presented by Luck & Schooney
Thursday 4 – Saturday 13 February, 7PM (plus late night 9PM shows Fri 12 & Sat 13)
TAPAC, 100 Motions Road, Western Springs

ELLEN MELVILLE CENTRE FESTIVAL
Presented by Proud Centres
Friday 5 February, 4PM
Ellen Melville Centre, 2 Freyberg Place, Auckland Central

QUEER TOGETHER POTLUCK
Presented by Queer Together
Friday 5 February, 7PM
Ellen Melville Centre, 2 Freyberg Place, Auckland Central

GOWNS BEAUTIFUL GOWNS
Presented by Natrasha
Friday 5 February, 7.30PM
Phoenix Venue, 1/258 Karangahape Rd, Newton

GAYS IN SPACE
Presented by Smith & Thomas
Tuesday 9, 7:30PM, Wednesday 10 7:30PM & 9:30PM
Q Theatre – Rangatira, 305 Queen Street, Auckland Central

HETHEYSHE
Presented by Cypris Afakasi
Tuesday 9 – Saturday 13 8PM
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Avenue, Auckland Central

I WANNA BE MARK WAHLBERG
Presented by Melody Rachel
Tuesday 9 – Saturday 13 6:30PM
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Avenue, Auckland Central

NOT AS SIMPLE AS IT SOUNDS
Presented by Ivan Lupi
Wednesday 10 – Saturday 20 February, various times
Audio Foundation, 4 Poynton Terrace, Auckland Central

SAMESAME BUT DIFFERENT
Presented by samesame but different & Proud Centres
Wednesday 10 – Sunday 14 February, various times
Ellen Melville Centre, 2 Freyberg Place, Auckland Central + satellite off-site events

DRAG QUEEN BINGO
Presented by Miss Trinity Ice
Thursday 11 February, 7PM
Caluzzi Cabaret, 461 Karangahape Road 

LET’S GET LOCO
Presented by Gawky Productions
Thursday 11 – Saturday 20 February, 9PM (no show Sun-Tue)
Q Theatre – Loft, 305 Queen Street, Auckland Central

ONEHUNGA WHĀNAU DAY
Presented by Proud Centres
Saturday 13 February, 10AM
Onehunga Community Centre

PRISMATICA, PLANTS, PEOPLE, PRIDE
Presented by Prismatica
Saturday 13 February 10AM
Auckland Horticultural Centre, 990 Great North Road

CARNIES AND QUEERS – THE RAINBOW CONNECTION
Presented by VeryGoodAtFalling
Saturday 13 February, 7:30PM
The Dust Palace, 61 Hugo Johnston Drive, Penrose

PT CHEV BIG GAY OUT BRUNCH
Presented by Proud Centres
Sunday 14 February, 10AM
Pt Chevalier Community Centre, 18 Huia Road, Pt Chev

ENDING HIV BIG GAY OUT
Presented by Ending HIV
Sunday 14 February, 12PM – 7PM
Coyle Park, Point Chevalier Road, Point Chevalier 

ENBY ENCORE
Presented by Miss Geena
Wednesday 17 February, 7PM
Caluzzi Cabaret, 461 Karangahape Road

CODE SWITCH
Presented by Medulla Oblongata
Thursday 18 February, 8PM
Phoenix Venue, 258 Karangahape Road

TE ATATŪ FESTIVAL & MARKET
Presented by Proud Centres
Friday 19 February, 5PM
Te Atatū Peninsula Community Centre, 595 Te Atatu Road, Te Atatū Peninsula

IMAN BALL
Presented by House of Iman & Proud Centres
Friday 19 February, 8:30PM
Venue TBC

CHINA PRIDE FESTIVAL  
Presented by China Pride NZ
Friday 19 – Sunday 21 February
Various venues & times

GALS WITH PRIDE AT THE GALLERY
Presented by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
Saturday 20 February 2PM
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, corner Kitchener & Wellesley Streets Auckland Central

STUDIO ONE TOI TŪ FESTIVAL
Presented by Proud Centres
Saturday 20 February 10AM
Studio One Toi Tū, 1 Ponsonby Road

PROLOGVE CHAPTER II
Presented by BXWEN
Saturday 20 February 10PM
G.A.Y Bar, 262 Karangahape Road

CIRCLE OF LOVE
Presented by Body Positive Inc
Sunday 21 February, 11AM
Circle of Friends Memorial, Western Springs Park

OVER MY DEAD BODY: UNINVITED
Presented by Tuatara Collective
Wednesday 24 – Saturday 27 February, 9PM
Q Theatre – Loft, 305 Queen Street, Auckland Central

CHARLOTTE MUSEUM POP UP
Presented by The Charlotte Museum
Wednesday 24 – Saturday 27 February, various times
Garnet Station, 85 Garnet Road, Westmere

QUEERLESQUE – BACK, BACK, BACK AGAIN!
Presented by Va Va Voom
Thursday 25 February, 7:30PM
Phoenix Cabaret, 1/258 Karangahape Rd, Newton

SUPREME BALL 2.0
Presented by the House of COVEN-CARANGI
Friday 26 February, 9:30PM
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki

EMC PRE MARCH PARTY
Presented by Proud Centres
Saturday 27 February 10AM
Ellen Melville Centre, 2 Freyberg Place, Auckland Central

PRIDE MARCH – A Call For Change
Presented by Auckland Pride
Saturday 27 February, 4PM
Albert Park, Auckland Central

PRIDE PARTY – A Call For Celebration
Presented by Auckland Pride
Saturday 27 February, 6PM
Aotea Square, Auckland Central

ENDS

---