JOY BLOG

18 Jan 2024

Celebrate with JOY this Pride Season

Pride Season is officially here, with Midsumma Festival kicking off this weekend! Of course, we’ll be right there with you the entire time as your soundtrack, but we’ll also be celebrating JOY’s 30th anniversary with a series of live in-person events, and we’d love you to join us!

You’ll find us at three major Midsumma events: Carnival, Pride March, and the Victoria’s Pride Street Party.

Midsumma Carnival

Sun, Jan 21
Alexandra Gardens
JOY Booth

The opening event of the Midsumma Festival, Midsumma Carnival is a huge free event held yearly in the Alexandra Gardens, often attended by more than 100,000 people.

JOY will be there to celebrate, with our own booth right near the Alexandra Avenue entrance! This is the only place you’ll be able to buy JOY Pride Fans, and will be the first place you’ll be able to purchase JOY Pins, including the special limited-edition rainbow plated JOY30 Pin celebrating our 30th anniversary!
You’ll also be able to grab a selfie with the JOY selfie frame, meet some of your favourite JOY presenters, and get your first sneak peek at the JOY Season One 2024 Program Guide and the three new programs joining the JOY airwaves in February!

Plus, the team from Neon Nights will be soundtracking our day with their own specially curated mix celebrating 30 years of JOY.

If you’re new to Midsumma Carnival, we strongly recommend you bring a water bottle to stay hydrated, and wear plenty of sunscreen – and continue to reapply during the day!

Midsumma Pride March

Sun, Feb 4
Fitzroy St, St Kilda
Marching group and live broadcast

To celebrate JOY’s 30th year, we’re opening up our marching group at Midsumma Pride March 2024 to all JOY Members and JOY Team!

The march route heads southbound along Fitzroy Street, finishing in the Catani Gardens for an afternoon of celebrations, DJs, and live performances.

With thirty years of history, advocacy, and memories to celebrate, we want to see JOY’s biggest contingent yet being Out. Loud. Proud together, and we need your help to make it happen!

Head to joy.org.au/march to register your interest, but hurry, because entries close soon!

If you just want to come down and cheer from the sidelines, make sure you pick out your spot along Fitzroy Street early, as more than 45,000 people are expected to line the streets alongside you.

And if you can’t make it down here, or don’t feel comfortable around crowds, don’t stress – our iconic live coverage of the march kicks off from 11:00am, on radio and with live video streamed at joy.org.au.

Victoria’s Pride Street Party

Sun, Feb 11
Gertrude & Smith Streets, Fitzroy
Live broadcast and booth

The most recent event added to the yearly Midsumma lineup, the Victoria’s Pride Street Party is the culmination of months of regional, rural and remote Victoria’s Pride events being held across the state.

Held across Gertrude and Smith Streets, expect live music stages with performances from JOY favourites Brendan Maclean, JXCKY, Cry Club, Kira Puru, Sycco, and more, plus live DJs, roaming performers, community stalls, and more.

Come say hello as we broadcast live from the street party, meet some of your favourite JOY team, buy a JOY Fan or Pin from our pop-up store, take a photo with our selfie frame, and record an audio love letter with your favourite memory from JOY’s first thirty years.

Find JOY near the corner of Gertrude St and George St, right next to the official Victoria’s Pride info tent.

Hear JOY’s live broadcast from Victoria’s Pride on JOY 94.9 and the web stream, 12:00pm – 2:00pm.

We’re looking forward to seeing you soon! And of course, if you can’t join us, keep it locked to JOY so you don’t miss a minute.