Cape Town - The LGBTQIA+ community is getting ready to paint the town pink for the Cape Town Pride Festival 2023.
The festival, which will run from February 9 to March 5, will include a wide range of arts, culture and entertainment, culminating in the popular Pride Parade on March 4.
The Parade will start at noon in De Waterkant, Green Point. The procession will be led by Mr and Miss Cape Town Pride, followed by the bikers from Ride with Pride, and skateboarders and rollerskaters.
It will continue along Somerset Road and Main Road, ending at the Green Point A Track. Tickets for the Pride Mardi Gras are at Quicket.
The festival will include book readings, film screenings, workshops, mountain hikes, gay line dancing, lesbian sundowners, drag shows, a three-night boat cruise, and a Pride Promenade Pet walk.
A highlight is the Mr and Miss Cape Town Pride Pageant, in which Pride royalty is crowned at a glamorous affair. Tickets are R130 at Computicket:
The Sanlam Pride Heroes Awards honour those people in the community who have gone the extra mile in a number of fields – from entertainment to social work.
A first on the calendar is the Pride Cruise for LGBTQIA+ family and friends. The four-day cruise to Mossel Bay and back is from February 17 to 20.
Cape Town’s best-loved drag performers, Manila von Teez, Kat Gilardi, Maxine Wild and Emogen Moore, will entertain.
The American Corner at the Cape Town City Library will give a free screening of Equal, a four-part docuseries which chronicles the landmark events and forgotten heroes of the LGBTQIA+ civil rights movement.
The Pride Roller Disco takes place on February 17 at the Rollercade in Battery Park at the V&A Waterfront.
The Timeless Festival and Cape Town Pride, in association with The Death of Glitter, will present a club night at Club Paradise, District 6, where top underground DJs and drag artists will perform.
For lovers of gay ballroom and line-dancing, the Pride GAT Party is on February 24, at the Bellville Cricket Club. There will be a Pride edition of the LGBTQIA+ Dance Party at the Milnerton Hall on February 25.
The Pride Promenade Pets Walk is on February 26. Meet at the Mouille Point Lighthouse at 10am, walk to the Sea Point Pavilion and back. Entry is R50. Proceeds go to Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha.
The Queer Reading Room will take place on March 1, at the Waves Theatre Café, 62 Hout Street.
The Embassy of Sweden will host a screening of the film My Father Marianne, at the Labia Theatre at 6pm on February 1.