Out in the Park teams up with CubaDupa

Out in the Park teams up with CubaDupa

Wellington’s annual queer* Fair will go ahead as part of the CubaDupa Festival, on 29 March 2015.

CubaDupa, described as a ‘magical playground of adventure, delight, and taste’, will feature live entertainment and involves the local businesses along Cuba Street and the wider Cuba Quarter. The Festival has a large footprint, and Out in the Park has been given one of the largest sites available – the carpark on the corner of Ghuznee and Leeds Streets.

The Fair has now been dubbed ‘Out in the (car)Park’ as a cheeky nod to its location. It will be held between 12pm and 5pm on Sunday 29 March.

“We are thrilled to be working with the CubaDupa Festival, the CubaDupa team welcomed us with open arms and found us a great site to hold a smaller version of the Fair – and we also start CubaDupa’s Sunday programme with our much-anticipated Parade” says Out Wellington Chair, Virginia Parker-Bowles.

It was also important to the all-volunteer team to salvage some of the hard work that has gone into planning Out in the Park. “Postponing the Fair was a tough decision, but it was the right one. The extreme winds made it much too dangerous to set up gazebos that weekend. We are excited about this new opportunity to hold it as part of a large and dynamic Festival like CubaDupa” explains Parker-Bowles.

While bad weather had forced the Fair to be postponed, Parker-Bowles says the all-volunteer team behind the Fair is focussing on the silver linings.

“When it was clear the Fair couldn’t be held in February, the support from the community was amazing. They turned out in force at the Lust party fundraiser, they went to the brilliant mini Fair at 19 Tory Street that a group of stallholders set up, and also to the fundraiser at Bad Grannies that featured many of the performers we’d booked for the Fair. So many people came up to members of the team and wished us well, it was quite overwhelming. Joining the CubaDupa programme gives us another shot at having the Fair, and we are grateful for that chance”.

Out in the (car)Park will be held between 12pm and 5pm on Sunday 29 March 2015, on the corner of Ghuznee and Leeds Streets, as part of the CubaDupa Festival. The Parade will leave Civic Square, and proceed up Cuba Street, and onto Ghuznee Street to the new site.

For more information, visit www.outinthepark.co.nz or www.facebook.com/OutintheParkWellington

*Queer is a reclaimed word that positively describes lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, fa’afafine and takataapui people.

ENDS

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