North Sydney to stage expanded Pride Month program

North Sydney Council will mark Pride Month in June with what it said was its largest program to date, including a community picnic, a new local portrait project and a young adult author panel at Stanton Library.

The program will centre on the North Sydney Pride Picnic, which will return to Ted Mack Civic Park on Sunday June 14 from noon to 4pm. The free family-friendly event will include live music, drag performances, food trucks, face painting, tarot reading and a photo booth.

Mayor Zoë Baker said Pride Month was about creating space for people to be “seen, heard and valued.”

“Pride is more than a celebration. It’s a statement of belonging,” Baker said.

“It creates space for visibility, for storytelling and for people of all ages, identities and backgrounds to come together in solidarity, joy and connection.”

Council said picnic attendees would also be able to visit The Rainbow Shoelace Project stall to receive free signature beads. Project founder Abbie Jane will lead a story time during the event.

The program will also feature a new commissioned creative project, Be Seen: Portraits of Queer North Sydney, led by artists Anna Hay and Sophie Willison.

Council said the project invited LGBTQIA+ people connected to North Sydney to be photographed in places of personal significance, including homes, streets and other locations connected to their queer experience. Participants also recorded short audio reflections about their connection to place.

The portraits and recordings will be shown at the Pride Picnic and later exhibited in the In Transit Gallery Space at North Sydney Council Chambers. Council described the work as a “living archive of queer life in North Sydney” exploring identity, memory and belonging.

Stanton Library will host a young adult “Ask Me Anything” Pride Panel on Thursday June 25 from 6pm to 8pm, aimed at readers aged 15 to 35. The panel will be moderated by Sydney drag artist Carmen Geddit and feature Australian young adult authors Erin Gough, Gary Lonesborough, Jeremy Lachlan, Sasha Vey and Will Kostakis.

The authors will discuss growing up queer, writing young adult fiction and the role of representation and community.

North Sydney Council Chambers will also be lit in rainbow colours throughout June. Council said the lighting reflected its continuing commitment to inclusion and support for the LGBTQIA+ community.