Riaan Wolmarans ‘Do it your way” reads the ad that the Pride committee has published this year, and as ever, the 11th annual Pride activities will see gay and lesbian people from all over the country doing it their way -be it drag, leather, dancing or simply joining a float in the Pride march. Unlike other years, Pride activities have closely coincided, with the Johannesburg leg taking place on Saturday October 28 and the Cape Town event happening a week later on November 4 -organised this way for greater exposure of gay and lesbian communities in the country’s two major metropolitan areas. Themed In the Name of Love, the Johannesburg Pride parade and Mardi Gras is somewhat different from previous years – the big parade will only take place in the afternoon, instead of early in the morning. But though the parade only starts at 2.30pm at Helpmekaar Private School in Empire Road (near the Johannesburg College of Education), the formal opening already takes place at 11am, while food and fleamarket stalls and a beer tent will be catering to the colourful crowd from 9am. The Bapala Gay Games will also take place here during the day. At 7pm, the parade venue closes down, and the festivities move over to the Heartland area in Juta and Henri streets, Braamfontein, where gay clubs Therapy, Akwa, Fly and New Moon Caf are hosting a big all-night Mardi Gras afterparty in the street, with artists such as Jenny Delenta and Left of Centre performing. The Pride 2000 CD will be launched, too.Special areas at the Mardi Gras include the VIParea at Therapy with two top United Kingdom DJs playing (see music lists on page 12), a women-only area and a kwaito and R&B area. Popular club Stardust is also joining the fray with a street carnival from 10am and a street party from 4pm, with the club itself opening at 9pm for a huge bash featuring 20 DJs and four dance floors. Cape Town Pride, a week later, takes place under the banner Unity in Community, and also comprises a parade -starting and ending in Somerset Road – and a Mardi Gras afterparty. As the Pride ads instruct, ”always, always, always do it in the name of love”.
For more information on Pride activities, callTel: 083 533 4931, or have a look on the Internet at www.sapride.org or www.q.co.za