PINK LOERIE 2012 THEME REVEALED

The dates and theme for next year’s 12th annual Pink Loerie festival have been revealed by the event’s organisers.

The theme for the gay and lesbian festival’s 2012 outing is “Ain’t No Closet Big Enough”.

The event is set to take place in Knysna from April 26 to May 1.

“The theme was chosen in light of the five continents coming together in South Africa for Mr. Gay World, which takes place three weeks before Pink Loerie,” said organiser Coenie Kukkuk.

“It’s saying in essence that the gay community is here and it is not going anywhere,” he added.

The Pink Loerie Mardi Gras, which traditionally consists of a parade, parties, pageants and arts and culture events, was created in part to generate tourism in Knysna during the off-peak tourism season.

Launched in 2000, it has throughout the years been opposed by a vocal, primarily religious, element of the small Western Cape town’s citizens who see it as immoral or inappropriate.

In 2009, the town scrapped a survey of its citizens that aimed to assess support for the event, following complaints from the LGBT community.

The previous year, Pastor Jerome Nel of the Garden Route Christian Centre led a group of around 300 people in delivering a petition to the town authorities in a bid to stop the festival from taking place.