$20,000 of funds remaining from the now defunct Wellington International Pride Parade (WIPP) are available to community groups to apply for.
“Community groups that were positively involved with WIPP and who continue to benefit the Wellington rainbow community are welcome to apply,” WIPP told YOUR EX in a statement.
As part of the application process, WIPP’s administrators want to know what the funds are to be used for and who is to benefit from them, to demonstrate a community-wide benefit.
Applications are open now and close on 14 March 2024 and can be found here.
WIPP has been a feature of Wellington’s pride celebrations since 2017.
The 2019 parade had to be postponed last minute due to the Christchurch terror attacks. The March 2020 parade was held amidst the burgeoning threat of Covid-19 and would be the city’s last major public event before going into lockdown. Despite this, the event attracted a record attendance of 50,000 marchers and supporters filling.
Following the 2020 parade, a significant number of the Board members resigned, and despite impromptu announcements of the parade’s return post-Covid, nothing eventuated.
On 30 July 2023, at WIPP’s AGM, it was unanimously agreed that the incorporated society that governs WIPP would be dissolved, effectively ending the Wellington International Pride Parade.
The announcement of funding applications comes just weeks before Wellington gets its first Pride parade in four years. The Wellington Pride Parade will debut on Saturday 9 March as part of the Wellington Pride Festival I Tū whakahīhī e Te Whanganui-ā-Tara.
 are available to community groups to apply for.){kind=link}