Rebuilding trust was the key to the success of this year's Pride events according to festival convenor, Kieran Bycroft. While some events did less well than expected, many attracted good crowds and some film and theatre sessions were sold out.

Mr Bycroft said the short lead in to the festival, under five months, created extra problems on top of the existing ambivalence to Pride within the community.

"After the problems of the previous years, we had to really work to get our audiences back this year, particularly with the film festival," Mr Bycroft told GAYinWA.

"In 2007 some screenings had no people, so this year it took our audience a while to believe in the product again."

Mr Bycroft was impressed by the turnout across events given the number of competing events on the calendar.

"Unfortunately due to our time restraints we didn’t have a lot of choice as to when these events could be held this year, so they were all bunched up in the first half of the month," he said.

"Once the trust had been rebuilt, we had sellouts across both the theatre season and the film festival," he said.

Two of the most successful events staged by Pride itself were the closing night of the film festival, with the feature Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild, which sold out, and Out Cast Theatre's The Adventures of Buttboy and Tigger at the Blue Room.

"Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild sold out prior to gates opening. While this was unfortunate for those who didn’t book, it was great for Pride and made for a very enjoyable screening," Mr Bycroft said.

"The other success story was The Adventures of Butt Boy and Tigger. Out Cast Theatre have been bringing their hilariously outrageous shows to Pride Festivals for years, and I was very proud to be a part of making this one of the few occasions that was worth their while financially."

There were some disappointing turnouts, including some targeted at women and a Spring in the Valley event that had to be cancelled due to lack of interest.

"The women’s Speed Dating had very little interest and therefore did not get off the ground, and Wishing Well’s production of Her Aching Heart had much lower turnouts compared with Butt Boy, which was a particular shame as those who did go, including myself, thoroughly enjoyed it," Mr Bycroft said.

"I think the women of Pride have felt neglected in past years and it is their trust in particular we have had to fight to regain. I hope this year’s festival – including The ‘L’ Party – has shown that we are making more of an effort."

Feedback has largely been positive according to Mr Bycroft, who survived a steep learning curve to pull together the 2008 festival.

"The feedback has been great. I met a couple of men at the closing night of the film festival who had been to almost every film and thanked me, which was very rewarding," he said.

"There hasn’t been too much negative feedback at all, but I have learnt a lot myself anyway and know of a few things that I would do differently.

"I had grand plans at the beginning and was only able to pull off about half of what I would have liked, but have learnt so much in the process."

Mr Bycroft told GAYinWA he planned to stay on the organising committee and had some grand plans for the 20th annual Pride Festival in 2009.

You can view, download and e-card Nigel and John's photos from all Pride events, including the Great Gay & Lesbian Debate, Fairday, Pride Parade, Pride Party, Court Street Party and Pride Womyn's Party now in GAYinWA Photos. 

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