Perth Voice Interactive

PRIDEFEST returned to Hyde Park for the 2023 Fairday, with thousands descending on the park on November 12.

The official count’s not in yet, but the daytime family-friendly Fairday’s been growing in popularity compared to the evening Pride Parade in recent years, with 37,000 people attending the 2022 Fairday compared to the 30,500 at the 2022 Northbridge Parade.

The increasingly enviable Fairday turnout has prompted Perth to consider pinching the event from Vincent council: Earlier this year lord mayor Basil Zempilas teased that PrideWA might get more funding from Perth in future years if the Fairday was moved within City of Perth bounds.

For this year Perth council just scouted out the event and sought to win hearts and minds, setting up a table in Hyde Park that was described in a city press release as an “enticing stall with incentives for people to get involved and learn about what the City does to support the LGBTQIA+ community”.