Almost a year ago we were celebrating the fact that Canberra said YES, and now back at the rainbow round-about on Lonsdale Street, Braddon YES!Fest is coming – will it be annual event on the Canberra calendar?

“YES!Fest is the name we chose for the follow-up to the Marriage Equality street party that lit up Lonsdale Street last November like a rainbow eclipse,”  YES!Fest Creative Director Danny Corvini says.

“As we intend to make this street party an annual event for Canberra’s LGBTIQ community and our allies, we needed a name that reflected the incredible positivity and pride of the original event, while broadening our scope beyond just marriage equality.”

Canberra is a great place to live as an LGBTIQ identifying person, returning the highest ‘yes’ vote of any state or territory in Australia and now with a celebratory street party which will no doubt draw crowds each year – last year saw over 6,000 people.

It won’t be as spontaneous as 2017, but it will be a lot of fun. The celebration is on Saturday 17 November 3pm til late promising family-friendly entertainment, food trucks and bars. The action will then shift to the Hopscotch stage where DJs and live performances will provide a Mardi Gras like atmosphere throughout the evening and well into the night.

Braddon resident Bentspoke is also showing their support with a custom YES!Fest brew which will be sold at Bentspoke and Hopscotch. The local beer named ‘Frenzy,’ will give interstate visitors a true taste of Canberra.

It is a raspberry wheat beer with a bright deep pink hue,” Head Brewer, Richard Watkins says. “It is special as it showcases the change into summer and we reckon the YES!Fest will be an absolute frenzy of a festival. We love supporting our local region and can’t wait to get the beers flowing!”

While the street performances take place, sink your teeth into the goodies from the Wave Food Truck Pop-up.

Undoubtedly the spotlight will be on Canberra, using the YES!Fest to highlight Indigenous drag. Stars of the Black Divaz documentary, which screened on SBS in March, fab-original drag queens Nova Gina and Josie Baker will perform at YES!Fest alongside Canberra’s own Miss First Nations 2018 finalist MadB.

YES!Fest will be spoilt for performers with an array of other kings and queens, dancers and singers appearing including The Berra Queens, Sheba Williams, Swagger, Kilia Tipa and Etcetera Etcetera. Music-wise, last year’s DJs Sveta and Raydar will return alongside new recruit DJ Estee Louder, and will drop queer classics, party jams and dance anthems well into the night.

Donate to the crowd-funding campaign to pay for the talented performers and the street closure here.