By DARRYN SMITH
MORE than 2500 event goers flocked to the Eumundi Markets on Saturday to take part in the annual Pride Fair Day.
Held as part of the Sunshine Coast Pride Festival, the Pride Festival Fair Day highlights the LGBTIQ community and brings everyone together in a safe and fun environment.
Sunshine Coast Pride Festival co-ordinator Marj Blowers summed up this year’s fair day, held in the Eumundi Market’s amphitheatre on Saturday, with three words: Love is love.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or what you are, love is indispensable,” she said. “We shouldn’t discriminate against who we love.”
Now in its second year, the Eumundi Market’s Pride Festival Fair Day was started after Eumundi Market’s general manager Peter Homan offered the site as a venue.
“Peter said he had heard we were looking for venue,” Marj said. “We are so grateful we are here at Eumundi because it is such a diverse community and it is so chilled out.”
Marj said people have come from far and wide to visit the Fair Day, including Sydney, Cairns, Brisbane and the Fraser Coast.
The Pride Festival Fair Day also honours locals and groups who help enhance the LGBTIQ community, with local Brian Day awarded the Local Hero award and community group Dykes on Bikes awarded the Community Spirit award.
Dykes on Bikes Queensland president Julz Raven said she had been attending the Sunshine Coast Pride Festival for five years and loves the Pride Fair Day at Eumundi.
“This is a much better venue,” she said. “It’s nice to have the markets included. It’s a very artsy crowd and it’s a good family atmosphere.”
