The 2024 Story of Victoria's Pride

The annual event named Victoria’s Pride (previously Melbourne Pride) is being held across the state for at least four years to support and celebrate our rainbow communities.

Victoria’s Pride kicks off in November with a series of regional activities, culminating in the one-day Victoria's Pride Street Party in Melbourne’s iconic Gertrude and Smith Street precinct on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people, from 11am to 9pm as the closing event of Midsumma Festival.

Here is a synopsis of the 2024 Victoria's Pride projects around Victoria.

The Applicants

  • 22 applications
  • 50% return applicants
  • 13 projects funded

Location of Projects

This map shows where individual projects were established, as well as the regions visited by the Queer-ways and Pridefinder programs.

Queer-ways was initiated by Georgia Keats and Luciano during the COVID lockdowns of 2019 as a way for queer people to connect back to sites of significance, and facilitate a way for people to still feel a sense of community and connection to other queer people while isolated. The tradition has expanded state-wide and consists of a series of multi-modal public artworks and self-led walking tours.

Pridefinder started out as a commissioned podcast project named The Rainbow Road Trip, which toured to regional communities within Victoria to collect stories about the LGBTQIA+ experience, resulting in The Pridefinder Podcast series.

2024 Books

Two amazing books were produced:

Film and Television

  • fourteen-and-nine-months
    A short film set in Bendigo telling the coming of age story of Freya, whose life takes an unexpected turn when she helps a lesbian couple find a turkey baster.
  • LaNCE TV Panel Discussion
    A live panel discussion exploring the lives and intersections of LGBTQIA+ regional Victorians living with a disability.

VISUAL ARTS: Queer-ways

Queer-ways: Retrace Regional Queer Footprints
Luciano and George hosted workshops in Shepparton, Geelong, and Ballarat and created AR maps documenting significant locations for the queer community and individuals.

VISUAL ARTS: Queerthentic

A regional art prize hosted at The Old Auction House in Kyneton featuring the work of Central Victorians. See mraai.org.au.

VISUAL ARTS: Our Queer History Museum

An exhibition of six displays, each representing a period in queer history, including an informative banner and décor from the era. See Shepparton Festival.

Social Events

  • Bass Coast Youth Pride Prom
    A free celebration event for LGBTQIA+ young people and their allies, aged 12 - 25.
  • Gippsland Pride Festival
    Five all-ages pool parties hosted across the Gippsland region with community stalls, free clothing swap and free bus travel to each event.

Community and Culture

  • Sounds Gay, I’m In Picnic
    A day celebrating intersectional pride at Sunbury Aboriginal Corporation featuring entertainment, activities, and resources.
  • Pride Fair Day
    A family-friendly festival in Wangaratta with stalls from local businesses and community groups and a line-up of local musicians and performers.

Digital Arts

  • Transcending the Narrative
    A podcast hosted by a clinical social worker which invites guests to take the stories they’re told about their identity, re-write them, and transcend them using principles of narrative therapy.
  • Expression Australia Interview Series
    Interviews with LGBTQIA+ Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals from regional Victoria, discussing their experiences in these communities.

Commissioned Projects

  • Pridefinder
    Helene collected stories from 35 individuals on her tour of 10 regional towns and Victoria’s Pride.
  • Switchboard
    We provided financial support to the “Older Person’s Pride Bus & Lunch” for the Pride March.

Outcomes

  • 15 organisations
  • 27 individual events
  • 35,000 participants
  • 8 projects at the Victoria's Pride Street Party
Principal Partners
Major Partners
Gold Partners