The ever-popular Big Gay Out fair day in Auckland's Coyle Park will be back next year, with organisers hoping the Waitangi weekend date will draw in more visitors from outside the city.
The date for the annual outdoor celebration of Auckland's LGBT communities has been set for Sunday 8 February, part of a long weekend, since the Waitangi Day public holiday falls on Friday 6 February next year.
"I'm delighted to be offered the chance to organise the day again," says event organiser Jonathan Smith who has again been chosen to pull the huge glbt event together. "It's New Zealand's biggest outdoor gay event, and a day I look forward to every year. I get quite a buzz from seeing everybody enjoying themselves."
Smith says he sees his role as providing the infrastructure for community groups, entertainers and volunteers to provide what they want to provide on the day.
The Big Gay Out is organised and sponsored by the NZ AIDS Foundation and Marquis Condoms to help raise HIV awareness, build strong LGBT communities, and encourage condom use among gay and bisexual men.
Entertainers and stallholders keen to be part of 2009's Big Gay Out are encouraged to contact Jonathan Smith directly via email: eventimento@xtra.co.nz.
