Sponsors, including Coles, have pulled financial support from some regional queer festivals. Organisers say the funding cut puts the events’ futures in doubt. The Drag’d Out festival in regional Victoria has been scaled back from three days to one. Queer festival organisers say their events are at risk of vanishing as major sponsors withdraw their support. Many festivals are supported by sponsorships and grants on a year-to-year basis but are now finding those dollars are drying up due to a range of economic factors. Wagga Wagga Mardi Gras president Holly Conroy said major sponsor Coles was no longer going to provide its annual $15,000 to that festival. “If there’s no sponsorships, and we can’t get businesses to come on board, then we may see the last of Wagga Mardi Gras,” she said. “Events like this have a snowball effect that helps every aspect of our community.” The festival is due to be held again in April next year. In a statement, Coles said it withdrew support for Wagga Mardi Gras “to ensure that we are sharing the support that we can provide to other communities”.
“We support and celebrate a variety of regional and metropolitan based community-led pride events,” the statement said. Another previous sponsor, Charles Sturt University, said in a statement that its budget for 2025 was still being finalised and a decision was “yet to be made” about continuing its platinum sponsorship of $27,500 a year to the Wagga Mardi Gras. Ms Conroy said losing regional queer festivals would impact more than just the entertainment value and revenue they brought to communities. “We’re not talking about having nothing to do for the weekend, we’re literally talking about saving lives,” she said. ACON Health travels to festivals to bring their services to regional communities. It is a similar story for Rainbow on the Plains, a queer festival held at Hay in south-western NSW, which has also seen sponsors pull out. Rainbow on the Plains president Will Miller says festivals boost mental health. President Will Miller said queer festivals were an important way to bring support services to regional areas.
“If we don’t have the festival, we don’t know where to refer people,” he said. “If you don’t have the exposure and the awareness, you don’t have the connections and then you don’t know how to identify in a community. “Everyone deserves to know who they are and find a place where they belong.” The Drag’d Out festival at Beechworth, in Victoria’s high country, has scaled back its festival from three days to one afternoon, after major sponsor Billson’s went into administration. Drag’d Out president Andrew Madden says pushing on with the festival is important for the next generation. Billson’s had previously provided $10,000 a year in sponsorship. President Andrew Madden said it meant fewer opportunities for the community to learn about queer culture. “We’re at risk of losing visibility,” he said. “What we’re trying to celebrate is a different part of humanity we don’t often see.” ACON Health NSW region outreach manager Gavin Prendergast said festivals were a lifeline for the community to learn what was on offer to help them.
Source: ABC Riverina
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