Following a week of heated debate about the purpose and focus of Johannesburg Pride, the House of Ditsie offered a different way to mark the event’s 36th anniversary — through reflection, reconnection and quiet joy.
On Saturday, 25 October, around a hundred members of the LGBTQIA+ community gathered at Zoo Lake in Johannesburg for the Nostalgia Pride Picnic, a relaxed and affirming celebration of queer visibility and solidarity, set apart from the fanfare of the city’s main Pride event.
Hosted by pioneering activist and co-founder of the first Johannesburg Pride, Bev Ditsie, the House of Ditsie emphasised that the picnic was not a counter-protest but a “quiet gesture of return” — a reminder that Pride, like public space, belongs to everyone.
The gathering drew a diverse mix of community members and allies, including government representatives such as Deputy Ministers Steve Letsike and Andries Nel and MP Palomino Jama, alongside activists like Dr Thulani Mhongo. Though briefly disrupted by security over crowd-size regulations, the event continued in good spirits, with attendees playing games and sharing food, stories, and laughter.
Read our full report on the event, and check out an exclusive gallery of images below by Nompilo Gwala and Angelo Louw.
