Around 50,000 Victorians will celebrate Victoria’s Pride with a Street Party taking over Gertrude and Smith streets in Melbourne’s inner north today, thanks to the Allan Labor Government.
Minister for Equality Vicki Ward will join the events spanning Fitzroy and Collingwood to celebrate Victoria’s LGBTIQA+ communities at the iconic one-day street party. The free, inclusive event features music, comedy, circus, drag and art installations.
Electro-pop superstar Chela et Cetera will headline the festivities, which will also star Bec Sandridge, Thndo & the NHT All-Star Band, and Leroy MacQueen.
Victoria’s Pride Street Party marks the final day of the Midsumma Festival calendar for 2025 and caps off months of regional pride events across the state, delivered in partnership with Midsumma Festival Inc.
Victoria’s Pride Regional Activation Program, featuring a dozen diverse arts and cultural projects, has been underway since November.
This included Queer Cakes & Butch Bakes: A Community Bake-off with Pride in Castlemaine, Picture Me, a day of clothes swapping and free makeup and hair tutorial’s in Warragul, and Fourteen and Nine Months, a short film created and premiering in Bendigo.
The program is part of the Labor Government’s work to achieve equality for LGBTIQA+ Victorians through the ten-year Pride in our future 2022-2032 LGBTIQA+ strategy, including an investment of $6.8 million in the Victorian Budget 2023/24 to support Victoria’s Pride statewide celebrations.
As stated by Minister for Equality Vicki Ward
“Victoria leads the nation on LGBTIQA+ equality and it’s wonderful to come together so joyfully and celebrate everything that has been achieved so far.”
“Victoria’s Pride Street Party is our chance to celebrate our diverse LGBTIQA+ communities, their families and allies and send a powerful message that you can be who you want to be and love who you want to love in Victoria.”
As stated by Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Communities Joe Ball
“Over the last 22 days of the Midsumma Festival, it’s been wonderful to have met and seen so many people, including many different parts of our communities and people from rural and regional areas.
“Pride events showcasing LGBTIQA+ artists are important for our sense of connection, belonging and community. There is no better way to end what has been an incredible festival than with a street party.”
As stated by Midsumma CEO Karen Bryant
“Victoria’s Pride is more than an arts celebration-it’s a powerful statement of solidarity and progress for LGBTQIA+ communities across the state.”
“From regional hubs to this iconic street party in the heart of Naarm/Melbourne at the end of Midsumma Festival, this event invites everyone to unite, embrace diversity, and amplify creative expression.”
