04 Nov, 2020
Rainbow Flag to Fly From Adelaide Town Hall
The City of Adelaide will proudly fly the Rainbow Flag from Adelaide Town Hall to celebrate this year’s Feast Festival during ‘Pridevember’.
Feast is Adelaide’s premiere LGBTIQ+ queer arts and cultural festival celebrating pride and diversity. The festival will run throughout Pridevember from 7 – 29 November across various Adelaide venues.
This year’s Feast Festival is the first multi-arts event to go ahead since COVID-19 reached Adelaide earlier this year and will feature a record number of events (112) and local South Australian artists and event organisers participating.
Lord Mayor of Adelaide Sandy Verschoor said that the City of Adelaide is proud to be a diverse and inclusive city.
“I’m so glad that this year’s Feast Festival is able to go ahead and that we are all able to come together to celebrate the raising of the rainbow flag at the Adelaide Town Hall,” the Lord Mayor said.
“Raising the rainbow flag signifies the start of Pridevember, a month-long celebration of inclusivity and diversity in South Australia.
“Adelaide is renowned as for its incredible festivals and the City of Adelaide is proud to celebrate with the LGBTIQ+ community through our continued support of Feast Festival.
“Feast Festival is a wonderful fun-filled few weeks bringing people from all walks of life together to celebrate and enjoy LGBTIQ+ arts and culture here in the heart of the city and will provide a boost to our city businesses.
“Council’s participation in this initiative will help Feast continue its important role of supporting LGBTIQ+ communities and create a vibrant, fun and safe South Australian pride experience.”
Feast developed the ‘Flying the Rainbow Flag Initiative’ in 2014 and invited every municipal council in South Australia to participate. This year will see a total of 27 councils, the largest number yet, either flying the flag or promoting the festival and LGBTIQ+ communities across the State.
Feast CEO and general manager Helen Sheldon said the support that the City of Adelaide provides to Feast is significant and truly benefits the whole community.
“We are delighted that the rainbow flag will fly once again in support of Feast and Pridevember.
“Through positive engagement and strategic partnerships, we can continue to support and contribute to the health and well-being of all LGBTIQ+ communities.”
Since 1997, Feast has provided a safe and inclusive platform for the LGBTIQ+ community to share and express themselves through art and culture.
Adelaide has a long history of legal, social and cultural innovation and reform, leading the way in celebrating diversity within the community.
In 1975, South Australia made history by becoming the first state in Australia to decriminalise homosexuality under Premier Don Dunstan.
Currently, the South Australian Liberal Government is in the process of introducing a Bill to state parliament that could see the end of the ‘gay panic’ defence in Australia.
The defence is a legal strategy by which a killer can have their criminal charges downgraded to manslaughter if the accused argues they lost control when the victim makes an unwanted sexual advance.
The City of Adelaide installed Rainbow Walk in Light Square in 2016 which includes a timeline to highlight significant South Australian milestones, people and events in our state’s history.
To view the Feast program head to: www.feast.org.au