Joburg Pride festival
The countdown has begun!!
Joburg Pride 2012 - the countdown has begun!
The countdown has begun on Africa's largest annual celebration of sexual diversity! Joburg Pride 2012 parade commences at 11am on Saturday, 6 October, at the Zoo Lake Sports Club, Rosebank, with gates opening at 8am (see attached map outlining this year's parade route).
As usual, Joburg Pride packs a sexy mix of human rights activism, top-quality entertainment and education, socialising and a good old fashioned South African 'jol' (party). This year's crowd-pleasing line-up features a hip-swinging line-up of fabulous entertainment that includes Flash Republic featuring glamorous songbird Tamara Dey, Ola, Crazy White Boy, DJ Erica Elle and Pabi Maloi.
Joburg Pride 2012's message is "Protect Our Rights", underscoring Joburg Pride's ongoing support of basic human rights, as highlighted in South Africa's ground-breaking Constitution. South Africa's LGBTI community will stand together as one, protecting and supporting the Constitution and its protection of fundamental human rights. Ultimately, a strike against the human rights of South Africa's LGBTI community is a strike against the human rights of ALL South Africans!
Now in its 22nd year, Joburg Pride has a long, colourful history. It's been nearly a quarter-century since that historic day when around 1 000 brave activists marched through Hillbrow and the Joburg city centre, many of them wearing masks or paper bags to cover their faces. Since then, Joburg Pride has grown into the African continent's oldest and biggest (and loudest and proudest!) pride march, attracting tens of thousands of supporter every year from throughout metro Joburg and Pretoria, as well as visitors from around the country and continent.
Pride Side Dish, established in 2011, serves as a cultural appetiser in the days leading up to Joburg Pride. A full calendar of cultural events take place throughout Johannesburg, with everything from pre-Pride parties, cabaret, film, theatre, art and music on offer (see www.joburgpride.org for the latest line-up).
Now, more than ever, savvy marketers and companies are targeting micro-niche markets, engaging with them across a number of platforms - from events and traditional media to social media the Internet. Joburg Pride offers the perfect convergence of these new-generation platforms - combining the Internet, social media, a magazine and the continent's leading annual gay and lesbian event, which attracted nearly 20,000 guests last year.
As such, it's no surprise that forward-thinking, blue-chip companies are supporting Joburg Pride in ever-increasing numbers, with strong year-on-year growth. Joburg Pride 2012's sponsors include Play Energy Drink, Mango Airlines, IBM, Douglas Green Belligham, SAB-Miller and Lufthansa Swiss Air.
Joburg Pride 2012... Be loud. Be proud. Be there!
JOBURG PRIDE 2012 - FAST FACTS:
• Venue: Zoo Lakes Sports Club, Parkview, Johannesburg.
• Times: Gates will open from 8am and the Parade will start at 11am and will end approximately 12.30pm.
• Entertainment will take place at the Zoo Lake Sports Club from the morning and gates and stage will close at 6pm.
• Free bus transport from Soweto, Tembisa and Mamelodi.
• Pride Village will have loads of lifestyle and health stalls (including free HIV testing and counselling services)
• Note: From 2.30pm Joburg Pride reserves the right to close the gates to newcomers. This will be for safety and security reasons and so as not to go over our maximum capacity for the venue.
JOBURG PRIDE 2012 - FOR THE LATEST INFO:
Email: gro.edirpgruboj@ofni
Facebook: www.facebook.com/joburgpride
Twitter: www.twitter.com/realjoburgpride
Issued for and on behalf of the Board of Joburg Pride
Contact Josef Talotta az.oc.tniophtuosyats@fesoJ or gro.edirpgruboj@ofni for more information
Time: 08:00 - 18:00
Venue: Zoo Lake Sports Club, Johannesburg
Cost: Free