NAIDOC Week celebrations in Melbourne put the queer First Nations community to the front on Wednesday with a glittering NAIDOC Pride Night after two years of July lockdowns.
Event organiser Dylan Hoskins with First Nations event management organisation OUSS Entertainment told PEDESTRIAN.TV the night was an important celebration for queer First Nations representation.
“For me it’s about providing platforms and opening doors for mob, for queer mob.
NAIDOC Week is phenomenal — why does it have to be just a week?”
This is the fourth year the event has run and the first after a two-year hiatus. It’s one of hundreds of NAIDOC (National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee) events across the country and one of a week-long festival run by Vic NAIDOC. Also in the program were an awards ceremony, a gala ball and a march, among others.
The aim for the pride night was to create a space where the LGBTQIA+ community and the First Nations community could come together and celebrate LGBTQIA+ First Nations performers in the form of a talent show and, well, a massive party.
Performer and winner on the night Kitty Obsidian