Coming up with the idea

What event do you want to see as part of the Wellington Pride Festival? What do you think is missing? The queer community is diverse, but chances are if it’s important to you, it’s important to someone else. 

“I wanted to continue my work in fat liberation,” says committee chair Joanna McLeod. “ I know in many gay spaces there’s that whole ‘No fats, no femmes’ nonsense. So I decided to create an event specifically providing a space for fat queers to get together. Fat Queers Eating Cake saw 25 of us in a gorgeous hall sharing kai, community and solidarity”. 

The Board survey after the 2025 festival also identified the following as events people felt were missing. These suggestions - quoted as written - might get your brain juices going: 

• A quieter event, where people can just sit and meet a little while doing something together. 

• An Open Mic (music, poetry, storytelling).

• Craft afternoons or evenings for adults.

• An art exhibition

• Creative workshops e.g. art, writing.  

• A set-price sit-down dinner. 

•  A Murder Mystery evening.

• An “Out in the Pool” dog event (which is something that used to happen). 

• Cultural exploration  e.g. political debates, book readings, a queer movie festival, something else  that celebrates queer culture.

•  DJ dance gigs.

• A dance recital, or organising a group to learn a dance routine.

• An educational event that teaches the queer community about Wellington's rainbow history.

• Free events. 

• Events geared towards queer men.

• A concert or gathering a group of people who want to go to a concert.

• Sober social evenings. 

• Something specifically for the 35+ crowd.

• An adult equivalent of a youth ball, especially for queers who never got to go to a ball as themselves. 

• Indigenous queer events.

• Family friendly events.

• Lesbian only events.

• Pop culture events celebrating nerds. 

• Poetry and writing workshops or meetups.

• Events not in Wellington city centre e.g. the Hutt, in the ‘burbs.!

• Stand-up comedy.

Finding a date and a venue

So now you have an inkling of an idea, it’s time to find a space for it. To be an official part of the Wellington Pride Festival, your event will need to take place between 6–22 March 2026.

Things to consider: Is your event a daytime thing? A weekend thing? A weeknight event? Who is the primary audience for your event? When are they most likely to be available?

Think about other events that may be happening at the same time. Will they compete for your audience? For example, you might not want to run an event with a political focus at the same time as the hīkoi because of the audience overlap. However, a small, low-sensory event may attract a different audience than Out in the City, so it would be fine to run at the same time. 

When it comes to choosing a venue for your event, it really depends on what the main activity at the event will be.

• If your event will include food, is it easier to do it at a venue already provides food and drink? Can you book a private space? 

• Can you partner with another organisation related to your theme – for example, a book shop, or a craft workshop? 

• Is your event suitable for all ages? If yes, then it can’t be held in an R18 venue. 

• What is your budget for venue hire? 

• Will you be selling tickets or is it a free event? 

Wellington City Council operates a number of community centres that are available to book at low cost, most of which have good accessibility. Other options may include two/fiftyseven on Willis Street. Maybe you have a friend who owns a huge central city apartment that would work well. Sometimes the best events can be held in the most surprising spaces so don’t be afraid to ask – all a place can do is say no. 

Accessibility

We’ve prepared a whole other document on creating more accessible events for you that we urge you to read and consider! 

A key thing to remember is that accessibility isn’t just about wheelchair users. Chances are your event may not be universally accessible, so it’s important to provide as much information in advance as possible so people can decide for themselves if your event is something for them. 

Ticketing

Will your event be ticketed? This could mean that you want to make money from ticket sales, or that there’s a restricted amount of space available so you need a way to limit numbers of people showing up. Having people register for a ticket – even if the event is free – is a really great way of getting a good idea  of how many people will actually show up on the day. It also gives you access to people’s email addresses to give them updates as necessary. Don’t rely just on people saying “interested” on a Facebook event to plan your numbers! 

At some venues, you will be locked into whoever their ticket vendor contract dictates. At others, you can choose your own, e.g. Eventfinda, Humanatix, or Lil Regie. 

If you’re selling tickets to your event, are there ways you could make the event financially accessible to a wider community? Consider some or all of the following: 

• Free tickets for those who need them.

• Offering different pricing options  for tickets, such as student/unwaged/low income, standard admission, and even VIP.

• Selling ‘community’ tickets where those who have the means can buy tickets for those who don’t.

• Giving people the opportunity to do volunteer work at your event (or in the lead-up to it) in exchange for entrance. 

Promoting your event

Your event needs to have an online presence – one key source of correct information. Perhaps this is on your organisation’s website. Maybe it’s a Facebook event or your ticketing page. Posts on social media should link back to this. 

When creating images for your event, make sure you create the correct size for the  various platforms your event will be listed on. Canva is a really simple tool to maintain design continuity.

HOT TIP: our community is particularly passionate about supporting artists, so AI-generated images are likely to attract criticism. 

Go ahead and post about the event in relevant special interest groups, as well as purely queer spaces (for example, a crafting event should hit up the crafting groups). 

How much you need to advertise will depend on how many people you already know will want to attend, your event’s capacity, and whether or not you need to (or want to) make money. 

You may also want to reach out to the media with information about your event, to see if it can be picked up as a story. The Community Comms Collective maintains a media list of people you may wish to get in touch with. Writing a good media release is a skill in itself, so consider asking for help from seasoned event producers that you might know. 

How Wellington Pride Festival can help you 

1. There is no cost for your event to be part of WPF. However, you must agree to our diversity and inclusion policy. 

2. When you have a rough idea of what you want to do, feel free to flick us an email or a DM. We can let you know if there are any other similar events simmering that you may want to team up with.

3. Once you register your event, you’ll be given access to our logos to include on your marketing. You’ll be listed on our events calendar and in our printable brochure. We’ll also do some promotion of events on social media, and may share your posts if you tag us in them – at our discretion. 

4. If you have any security concerns around your event, get in touch with us as well. We can help you work out a security plan and may be able to send along some volunteer marshals to help out on the day.

5. We’re always happy to chat about your plans and provide feedback – just flick us an email at info@wellingtonpride.com.