Our plane hovered over Wellington. The pilot looked through his binoculars at the rainbow coloured posters and campness littering the city for the Proud fortnight, then switched on the plane's comms system. "Sorry everyone, we're flying back to Auckland."
I'm only half joking. We were on a (cheap) Jetstar flight, it was foggy in the capital and the plane couldn't land. So we were flown back to Auckland, where we waited for 45 minutes before being whisked back down to Wellywood. A four-hour mission! This Proud Festival better be worth it.
Then, as soon as we landed, my mobile rang. "The weather's too bad - Out in the Square's been postponed until Sunday."
The whole Proud Festival had been moved from March to January to take advantage of summery weather after rain drama last year had affected a few events. Great plan, but when we arrived in Wellington it felt like winter was back. We had a few drinkies at S&M's bar on Cuba Street and a dance to Lady Gaga's finest at Club Ivy. Nice people and atmosphere in both places.
Bottom's up!
Saturday was indeed showery, so the Proud crew had done the right thing with their early Out in the Square postponement call. GayNZ.com visited some friends in the capital who kept us gossiping all day and soon it was late evening, and time again for cocktails at S&M's bar.
The night's main event was the elaborate Devious Party in Shed 6 on Queen's Wharf, but many Welly queens had worried that the $45 tickets would be too expensive for the local scene stalwarts who were used to getting into everywhere free or with a few gold coins. So it was heartening to see that S&M's was full of lesbians dressed sinfully and counting down the minutes until the Devious doors opened.
We needed to pop into Club Ivy on the way to the wharf though, for Aaron & Andy's high-brow little 'Best Butt' competition. It was like something out of old holiday camp sitcom Hi De Hi!, with various clenched buttocks poking through a small round gap in a black curtain, to rapturous cheers from the sizeable audience.
Who am I to question Aaron & Andy's 'Pinky and the Brain'-style Wellington gay scene machinations, I mean I'm a follower of their entire 'media empire', but why oh why would they front any sort of gay event on the same night as an impressive once-a-year-if-you're-lucky gay dance extravaganza? Bad form, surely?
Still, we gotta admit the Best Butt contest was crude fun, with the deserving winner Marcus getting a big bar tab. He'd previously won Best Butt at Vinegar Hill campsite over New Years, so his rump is attracting quite a trophy cabinet. What's next for A&A? Well, "We're planning a 'Best Cock' contest!"
Wellington's biggest gay bash
All through the Best Butt contest I was thinking to myself how much Cindy of Samoa with her bawdy sense of humour would have enjoyed it - but she was busy across town belting out Tina Turner's hits at the Devious party.
GayNZ.com paid the $55 door charge each to enter and found Queen's Wharf's Shed 6 half empty when we got there at almost 2am. It appeared the ticket sales and turnout was a little disappointing, which was an incredible shame since Devious was - seriously - one of the best-produced LGBT dance parties we'd ever seen.
It had it all. Our favourite local and Sydney DJs and acts including Pollyfilla and Kitty Glitter. Choreographed animal-painted dancers and gorgeous acrobatics. An impressive DJ set-up and awesome sound system. A circus tent with decorative jungle cats... I could go on, but suffice to say that if you missed this, you missed Wellington's finest dance party for years. The crowd of around 350 there were having the time of their lives.
Today we're thrilled to hear that the Devious party is likely to return in 2011 - presumably in time for the OutGames - so it's set to be the gay event of next year in NZ. In the meantime, GayNZ.com salutes all the talented cast and crew of Devious 2010.
Wellington Squared
It was a grey start to Sunday for the delayed Out in the Square day of LGBT fun in Civic Square. It's fantastic that the capital can 'come out' so much the support its queer communities and have their biggest event right in the centre of town. There's nothing else in New Zealand quite like it.
We'd all almost been whacked in the face by tumbling trestle tables as wind gusts made last year's Out in the Square a very dramatic event, so we were surprised that this year's fair layout included loads of little light seats by the stage, but they proved to be a great addition as people sat around making the day look busier and more popular than ever before. Another lucky addition was the rainbow dots all over the Art Gallery for Yayoikusama's Mirrored Years show, making the whole square look very gay indeed.
There were a few bright spots of sunshine before a shower descended at 4pm - this event seems to be cursed each year by Wellington's wild weather - but there was a lot to see and do. Community stalls included all the usual groups like the LILAC library for lesbians, Agender, Asexuality Aotearoa, the Green and Labour Parties, OutGames 2011, NZ Police Diversity Liaisons, Get it On! and many more.
The day begin with a confetti gun pop at 11am, and a little speech from a bright-pink clad Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast. Marking the event's 25th anniversary, longtime gay activist Des Smith was presented with a cute 'Pinkie' award for his pioneering work on the first Gay and Lesbian Fairs in the 1980s.
The postponement has left 2010's Out in the Square bereft of several entertainers who were not available on the Sunday - including (to our shock and horror) most of the drag queens - so ever-resourceful MC Steven Oates phoned around to save the day, getting Cindy of Samoa to do a few numbers before she got on her plane back to Auckland. Local band Poppy Dust was another highlight of the day's entertainment, they are wonderful fun. On-stage games included a handbag throw and a sing-off for various CD prizes.
Apart from the Mayor, other notables there included Green MP Kevin Hague, and new American ambassador David Huebner attended in an unofficial capacity but was happy to meet the locals and appear in a few GayNZ.com snaps.
Wellington's Proud Festival team of volunteers are justified in taking pride in the start of the two-week Proud Festival, which continues until the finale parties on Saturday 6 February (we've booked our flights). Details on the rest of the fortnight's events are on the link below.
HAPPY PROUD FESTIVAL WELLINGTON!
