Seven Years and the Fight for Queer Joy Continues 

Our village’s pride and joy, Paekākāriki Pride Festival is fast approaching. Jessica Barnes lets us how to get your dose of aroha and Rainbow good times over Labour Weekend.

Paekākāriki Pride Swim. Photo: Paekākāriki Pride Inc.

This year marks seven years since the inaugural Paekākāriki Pride Festival, and the need for safe spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community is greater than ever.

Co-founders, Val Little and Pat McIntosh, initially created the festival as a fundraiser for New Zealand’s first trans MP Georgina Beyer’s medical costs when she became ill with renal failure in 2016.  

The fundraiser grew into a festival that celebrates the whole Rainbow and transgender community.

With a year of canceled Drag Story Times and anti-trans rhetoric there is a need for active, safe and inclusive queer spaces.

Co-founder and Committee Chair, Val Little says, “I feel like it’s bad, if not worse, than when we were going through the Homosexual Law Reform [circa 1985]”. 

According to an Official Information Act request to NZ Police by RNZ, hate crimes motivated by gender identity doubled between 2022 and 2023.  

Paekākāriki Pride is the antidote to hate with a festival that is family friendly and bursting at the seams with queer joy.

Jessica Barnes, Paekākāriki Pride committee member said, “the Pride Festival here in Paekākāriki goes from strength to strength each year. It’s going to be a fantastic weekend to celebrate our Rainbow, Trans, and Takatāpui Community”. 

Events over the weekend include:

  • Meet and Greet at Finn’s Restaurant on (October 25)
  • Pride Parade along Marine Parade (October 26)
  • Kids Pride Disco at St Peters Hall (October 26)
  • Adult Pride Disco at St Peter’s Hall (October 26)
  • Pride Swim at Paekākāriki Beach (October 27)
  • Pride Dog Show at Campbell Park (October 27)
Paekākāriki Pride Dog Show. Photo: Paekākāriki Pride Inc.

Proceeds from the Festival will be donated to the Karl Farrell whānau to support him in his time of need. The Givealittle page can be found here.

To learn more about upcoming events visit the Facebook group here and the website here.

Paekākāriki Pride

The Paekākāriki Pride Festival began in 2016 as a fundraising dance party to support New Zealand’s first openly transgender MP, Georgina Beyer, with her medical bills. Former committee member and co-founder Pat MacIntosh says, “Georgina was always such an inspiration and an icon for the Rainbow communities. We wanted to give something back to this national taonga as a token of our appreciation and we couldn’t think of a better way to do it than to run a big old queer disco!” 

The dance attracted a range of people from all over the region and Georgina attended, albeit frail, to celebrate her contribution to Maori and LGBTQIA+ rights. The following year saw the birth of the festival favorites we see today, including the (unofficial) World’s Shortest Pride Parade, at which Georgina cut the ribbon and officially launched it.

For more information contact:
Val Little (Chair), Paekākāriki Pride Ltd. 
P: 021 295 3979 | E: [email protected]

Paekākāriki.nz is a community-built, funded and run website. All funds go to weekly running costs, with huge amounts of professional work donated behind the scenes.  If you can help financially, at a time when many supporting local businesses are hurting, we have launched a donation gateway.