Newsletter #11 - 12 Febuary 2026
Less than a month to go!
Oh my golly gosh, it is February already which means very soon it’s March, and that means it’s Wellington Pride Festival 2026. Eeek! I am trying to get this newsletter done before I head out to our very first queer cooking class They Ate, and plan to send it after 5pm when our new big event announcement comes from our friends at Brewtown, while also juggling many emails from our many other lovely stakeholders, so please excuse me if it seems to jump all over the place (Narrator: she did not manage to finish the newsletter in time and is in fact finishing it 24 hours later).
So many things to tell you about! First of all, and the most encompassing is that the programme for our 2026 festival has been released! You can check out all the listings on our website, and also download yourself a PDF if you’d rather print it out. There will be some physical copies available too in some locations - we’ll let you know where & when.
We won’t do a whole paragraph about this, but I was on the Quilted Bananas radio show on 1 February talking all things festival, so you can listen to that on their website. Other things you can read about below are our cooking classes, Out in Brewtown, some words about the various signature events we’re producing for the Festival, a reminder about Rainbow Windows of Wellington, an introduction to Pride HQ and an update on our witnesses from the Human Rights Review Tribunal.
Oh, and we need help to deliver the festival! So sign up as a volunteer, please?
Joanna McLeod
Chair
PS: I’ve been saying this to all the committee but i’ll say it to you too - please make sure you are staying hydrated, getting some sleep and eating some vegetables because the Festival is going to be MASSIVE and we want you to be able to enjoy as much of it as possible!
Newsletter contents
Festival programme out now
Out in Brewtown
They Ate
Our other Signature Events
Rainbow Windows of Wellington
Pride HQ
An update on the HRRT court case
80+ events of queer joy and history
Is this our biggest programme yet? It might just be. And we haven’t even finished programming it yet because there may still be more to come in Pride HQ (more about that later).
Our theme this year is “Honouring the past, building the future and celebrating the now” and there are certainly plenty of opportunities to do that. Hopefully you’ve heard by now that it’s our 40th anniversary, so we’ve encouraged events to think about where the rainbow community has come from, but also where we’re going. So there’s a whole lot of history and at the same time there’s a lot of dancing too. We paid attention to your feedback last year so there’s a lot of smaller events too - crafting workshops and lower sensory spaces where you can hang out in safe queer company. Use the categories and tags to find the right events for you. There’s lots of free stuff as well as ticketed events and we encourage you to book early - as well as securing your spot it helps the event planners relax a little!
Oh, and if you’re intending to march in the Wellington Pride Parade, tomorrow’s the last day for you to sign up to do that.
Out in Brewtown
Speaking of making sure you get your tickets early! We are absolutely delighted to be able to add a new large Signature Event. We’ve worked with our friends at Brewtown to create a really special day of queer music artists. Ladyhawke! Bec Sandridge! Dateline! Ardon England! Tahini Bikini! You’d best be wearing your dancing shoes - though there will also be an accessible area with seating for those with mobility issues. Don’t forget, events like this are open to everyone who comes with love and respect (well, in this case it’s an R18 event), so bring your straight allies too!
A portion of the ticket sales will come to us at the Festival, and a portion will go to Naming NZ.
Our new queer cooking classes
Working with funding from Lower Hutt City Council, we’re really excited to be able to start offering FREE cooking classes for our rainbow community. Learn some new skills, make some new friends and eat some great food. Win win win, right?
They Ate - Queer Cooking Classes will start out with a trial block of three classes, happening once a fortnight at Te Mako Naenae Community Centre.
Each session of They Ate can take a maximum of 10 participants, and will run independently from other sessions, so you don’t need to have taken one to join the next. If classes fill up, we’ll wait list people in case positions open. The next class is on Wednesday 25 February at 6.30pm, and we'll be making Mediterranean Chicken with Couscous.
A little more about our other signature events
We want to make sure you have our Signature Events in your calendar!
6 March: Dawn Ceremony - this is a really beautiful moment at the top of Matairangi / Mount Victoria where Mana Whenua open the Festival with karakia and waiata. Yes it’s early in the morning, but honestly it’s worth it and the climb up to the summit.
7 March: The Wellington Pride Parade - keep an eye out for the Festival team bringing 1986 realness!
14 March: The Pride Youth Ball - Okay, this one’s only for those who are 13-18, but you can support the event by buying a supporter’s ticket which keeps the ball accessible for everyone who needs it.
15 March: Pride Hīkoi - Join us as we march in solidarity to the opening of Out in the City. Bring your signs, bring your flags and bring your passion.
15 March: Out in the City - our great big massive fair, which started the whole festival. 70+ stalls, all kinds of entertainment on the Datacom stage, including the very requested dog show Pooches in the Plaza, once again hosted by hospitality legends Scotty and Mal. We’ll have more information about other performers in our next newsletter.
21 March: Out in Brewtown - We just talked about this, but it’s going to be an amazing day out.
22 March: The Pride Picnic - A delightfully chill afternoon in the Botanic Gardens. Bring a picnic, bring some friends and soak up the sun and the vibes. We’ll also be announcing the winners of Rainbow Winners of Wellington then too!
Has your favourite business signed up for Rainbow Windows of Wellington yet?
We’re challenging businesses all across Wellington to roll out the rainbow and decorate their windows with the spirit of Pride.
Own a retail outlet, or work in one? Get your business to join in and be in to win fabulous prizes. Doing a tour in your own time to check out all the fabulous windows is a festival event in itself.
There’ll be a popular vote via our website, as well as an expert queer judging panel made up of Pepper Raccoon, Queen Olivia III and Beth Brash, Festival Director of Wellington on a Plate. Winners will be announced at the Pride Picnic on 22 March.
Ask your favourite shops and cafes to take up the challenge and sign up! There’s even a flyer you can print and take to them on our website, along with the entry form and all the prize details. Let’s brighten up this city of ours together!
This is our space - and it’s yours too!
Working with the Urban Dream Brokerage, we’re really excited to be able to have a physical hub for our Festival. It’ll operate as a drop in every day from 11am-7pm, but will also be bookable for small free or low cost mini events.
We’ll have the exact location and more details for you in the next newsletter, but we can tell you it will be:
accessible
centrally located
Contain a mix of soft seating, and tables and chairs.
Already booked into the space are workshops for making felt flags and zines, a Men’s Circle 101 and Fat Queers Eating Cake, but we’re keen to take on more programming. Is there something you’d like to host? Some ideas we have are:
Queer parenting meet-up
Book club
Board game evenings
Meditation
Chair yoga
Lunchtime dance party.
Want to run one of those sessions, or have your own ideas? For any enquiries about using the space, contact chair@wellingtonpride.com.
Witness Briefs of Evidence from our Human Rights Review Tribunal now available
And finally, we still don’t have a decision from the Human Rights Review Tribunal - and it may be years before we get one. However, what we DO have is a page on our website where you can read the Briefs of Evidence our witnesses prepared and read in court.
As you know, we never expected to go to court over our right to hold an event where trans*, non-binary, intersex, and all gender minority attendees would feel safe, accepted, and supported to be themselves. But since we were forced to do that, we recognise that the work our amazing expert witnesses put into their briefs of evidence is an important community resource. With their permission, we are proud to share these briefs.
You can read the briefs and summaries here - but please take care as these documents contain statistics, language and stories you may find distressing.
