A party to preview Pride 2026
On Friday night, we had the absolute pleasure of giving a preview of Wellington Pride Festival 2026 to a wide range of community members, sponsors, politcians, artists, collaborators and other allies.
We have a ton of thank yous for the night:
Tiwhanawhana who welcomed us in and Drag Kings Aotearoa NZ who opened us to party times.
Representatives from Wellington City Council who accepted our wero to ensure that queer people can thrive all year round in our city, that Pride is not just limited to a two week party
Brewtown Upper Hutt and the Wellington Pride Parade who spoke about the events they'll be putting on under the festival umbrella
Our amazing venue Two/Fiftyseven who do so much for so many community groups - it really does feel like coming home to run an event there
The generous (and delicious!) companies who provided us with drinks - Almighty, Abandoned Brewery, Wairau River Wines and Weekender Gin.
Everyone who came along and made it such a fun night full of connections!
We've got a ton of things to announce that we'll spread out over the next week or so, but rest assured - next year's festival is going to be spectacular!
Chair Joanna’s speech notes
Kia ora koutou everyone, I’m Joanna, the chair of the Wellington Pride Festival, and I’d like to thank you all so much for coming out tonight.
We’re here tonight to tell y’all some more about us - this merry troop of volunteers who make up the Wellington Pride Festival committee, what we have planned for the festival in 2026, and where you fit into that.
There’s a whole ecosystem that goes into organising a festival for 12,000 or so people, and we’re really excited to bring together so many of you in one room tonight! In that spirit, I’d now like to invite our mayor, Andrew Little, to kick off the speeches.
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We’re here of course to give you a preview of the 2026 Wellington Pride Festival - and the stunning hero image designed by Cosmo Bones.
The theme for our festival next year, in keeping with our 40th anniversary, is ‘Honouring the past, building for the future, and celebrating the now’. We stand on the shoulders of generations and generations of queer activists, and take our role in the Te Whanganui a tara rainbow community very seriously.
So before we get on with the partying, we need to give some thanks back to the community. I’d like to invite former chair Tasmin Prichard up to speak now.
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Now the fun stuff! The committee leads for all our signature events for 2026 are gonna tell you about what we’ve got planned.
First up: Andy is going to talk about the Pride Youth Ball, then pass the mic along.
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So that’s what we’ve got planned.
But what are you planning? Cos we’ve got homework for you!
ALWAYS SHOW UP FOR THE RAINBOW COMMUNITY. And right now, that means fighting for our trans and gender non conforming rangitahi to be able to access puberty blockers, if they need them.
To the politicians and powerbrokers in the room, we thank you for coming along tonight, and we’d like to lay down a wero to you: being the most queer friendly city in New Zealand and enjoying that label means we need to ensure this is a city where queer people can actually afford to live. Our artists and creators can’t survive on vibes alone. So remember us when you’re making your decisions. Pride isn’t just about throwing a big party for two weeks - it’s about having a thriving community year long.
That said - we are absolutely ready to party tonight! We’d like to thank the businesses who made tonight possible - 2degrees, our glorious venue two/fiftyseven, and then our drink suppliers Abandoned Brewery, Almighty, Wairau River Wine and Weekender Gin. Seek out and buy their products, and tell them we sent you!
There are massively long lists of people we want to thank too, but we also want to get on with the party, so those thanks will come in written form.
Our formalities will close tonight with a performance from the Drag Kings Aotearoa NZ, who’ll tell you a bit more about their place in queer Wellington history.
Then we’re going to turn up the music now with some throwbacks to 1986, and some more modern bangers too. There’s also plenty of quieter places to sit and korero if that’s more your speed. Grab another drink and something to eat, come talk to the committee or have a kanikani with us, and we hope to see you all at the festival!
Thank you so much, and let’s give it up for the Drag Kings!
