2 days ago
Rolling out the Rainbow
Winter Pride volunteers David Dewhurst, Mary Horan, Mini Watson and Aaron Ravenwood in 2020. PHOTO: ODT FILES
There'll be a lot more colour in Queenstown over the next 10 days.
The resort is once again rolling out the rainbow to celebrate this year's Winter Pride, which officially kicks into gear today.
Run for the second time by Sam Coulthard, about 5000 members of the Rainbow community are inbound to the Whakatipu — almost half of them coming from Australia.
Forty separate events, both on and off the mountains, are scheduled between tomorrow and next Sunday, including a new initiative, the Winter Pride Wedding Expo which is being held at the Queenstown Memorial Centre next Friday afternoon.
It'll showcase a selection of the resort's best wedding celebrants, caterers, florists and venues, all of whom support the LGBTQIA+ community.
Coulthard, whose background is in events, says weddings are part of his "normal job", and he's aware there's a "real problem" in Australia and other parts of New Zealand to find Rainbow-friendly celebrants.
Given Queenstown's already a top wedding location, he's hoping Winter Pride guests will be inspired to tie the knot here in future.
