2019 FESTIVAL
Welcome to Queenstown's Winter Pride '19, the most popular Winter Pride Festival in the Southern Hemisphere.
Winter Pride '19 is renowned for fun both on and off the mountain, and once you've come once, you are bound to want to come back again.
We have made some exciting partnerships with local ACCOMMODATION providers. So please use the links on this site to book your stay as Winter Pride earns a mixture of commission and in kind support from bookings made from our links.
This year's festival is continuning to grow the ON-MOUNTAIN SERIES with a designated mountain resort hosting the festival each day so that we can keep the fun in one place. This year, our partner mountains are working with us to dedicate areas of their bars and restaurants to our pride festival, meaning music, plenty of socialising and a real pride vibe on the slopes.
Our free ski / boarding guides will also be there to show you around. Just like you, they are people who are here on holiday and who want to have the best time yet. They are volunteering to help make your trip even more fun and we are confident that you'll love them.
For those who aren't so keen on snow, check out our OFF-MOUNTAIN SERIES - lots to choose from that will be a bit warmer than the hitting the slopes.
And then, of course, the usual DUREX PRIDE PARTY SERIES - those great parties you've always loved in the past with a few extra special ones this time round - check out our main events schedule below.
There are also opportunities for you to volunteer and help out. As a social enterprise, Winter Pride, needs approximately 50 volunteers to generously give their time in order to make this event a success. We will do a call-out for volunteers closer to the festival. Subscirbe to our newsletter if you would like us to email you with updates.
Lots of choices for you all, so get out there and have fun.
We can't wait to have you all along.
Interested in strutting your stuff and showing off your talents? Register for the free talent line-up at Queenstown's Got Talent and as a performer for Pride in the Park, **HERE.
Winter Pride '19 Durex Pride Party Series, On-Mountain Series and Shotover Jet Off-Mountain Series - the choice is yours
Don't miss a thing! Keep checking back for updates (below).
The DUREX PRIDE PARTY SERIES schedule and the ON-MOUNTAIN SERIES schedule are both available below.
For those interested in even more activities; including adventure, other outdoors, pamper or food and wine, the Shotover Jet Off-Mountain Series will be completed in April.
VIEW FULL SCHEDULE
Platinum Accommodation Sponsor - Accor Hotels
Whether you are 'On Mountain Series' or 'Off Mountain Series' we have the perfect 4 star & 5 star accommodation options for you.
- Mercure Queenstown Resort
- Novotel Queenstown Lakeside (HOST Hotel)
- St Moritz Queenstown - MGalley by Sofitel
- Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa
Staying in an Accor hotel gives you the reassurance of a reputable brand that are proud members of the Pride Pledge. Our LGBTTQ+ supportive team will give you the insider knowledge and recommendations of their favourite picks in Queenstown. PLUS All hotels are centrally located with easy access to all Winter Pride events, Ski experiences and public buses. Nothing is in your way of having the best time!
More information on each Hotel, and booking links, here
Please remember to SUPPORT THOSE WHO SUPPORT US.
BOOK at a Queenstown ACCOR Hotel today MORE ACCOMMODATION OPTIONS
Tickets and passes
Head to our PACKAGES page for information on event passes. All bundled passes are available on eventfinda and individual tickets will start becoming available early February 2019.
Event Passes Schedule of events on EVENT PASSES
On Mountain Series
Get your mountain passes for Winter Pride's festival mountain partners Cardrona, Coronet Peak and The Remarkable (NZSki) - and enjoy our free Winter Pride mountain guides, a pride-filled lunch area on each mountain, with DJ/Live music.
The Winter Pride festival moves the fun around the mountains over the week. So make sure that you join us on the right mountain each day - can't wait to see you there.
And there are the incredibly easy Pride Buses daily, where you can meet up with mates and truly not worry about the hassle of self-drive up icy and rough 4x4 roads at altitude.
The Pride Buses will pick up and drop off guests from our key partner hotels in Queenstown.
For more information on packages and how to book, use the link below.
Make sure you get yourself to Cardrona's Onesie day, The Remarkables Ski Charity Race Day and the Pride Flag Parade Day on Cardrona.
Find out more about Mountain and Pride Bus Passes Download ON MOUNTAIN schedule (PDF)
Off Mountain Series
This year, Winter Pride '19 is continuing an OFF-MOUNTAIN Series of events including Pride Groups for Queenstown's usual Adrenaline Junky activities such as as Shotover Jet Boats and Zip Trek and many other activites that this region is famous for.
More wine tasting, food and other outdoor activities such as Hikes for Pride are also in the pipeline, which should help those of you who want a day or two off the mountian to have even more fun with other festival goers this Winter Pride. And we are partnering with Onsen Hot Pools for those of you who enjoy that extra little pamper time.
Once again we will hold our public event, Pride in the Park, where the whole community can celebrate with us on the final Friday afternoon.
And we are also introducing a Sevens Touch Tournament. So rugby fans, join one of the mixed teams and get out onto the field or just come as a spectator and enjoy.
Watch this space. It should line up to be an exciting and fun week.
VIEW FULL SCHEDULE (Off Mountain and "Food & Bev" options on 2nd page)
Durex Pride Party Series
As always, the Durex Pride Party Series is one of the highlights of our week-long festival. A great place to meet new people and old friends.
This year we are keeping some of our old favourites and increasing some venue sizes so that more people can get tickets to our parties. Our PROPAGANDA Final Party will be an extravagant end to the week, with performers and DJs, followed closely in popularity by the Leather and Lace Party, SKYCITY Karaoke and the Urge Underwear party earlier in the week.
We have reformatted the cabaret evening into an exciting new format, making it more accessible to a wider audience in terms of cost, and transformed it into "Queenstown's Got Talent" a shortlist of our best talent from volunteers to some more salubrious performing talent and hosts.
Following on from the success of 2018, Après ski will be each evening at Smiths Craft Beer House - a real Pride Bar, with DJ's, good company and friendly staff. We have also mixed it up a bit by putting the Queer Quiz on hold for the year while we re-boot our Games Night as "Cards against Humanity" and give you more time to chat and catch up with friends surrounded by the worst possible humour.
For the men who like to really dress down, we are in the process of re-partnering with Urge Events to bring their (in)famous Underwear Party back to town (All men, MSM).
This year we have expanded our diverse spaces to include a Trans+ Cocktail evening and a Ladies Night before on the first Sunday evening, before the Military Party.
If you want to meet new people outside of parties, we are tweaking our Shared Table series so that we have a choice of showcased restaurants each night - you choose and you book - and there should be plenty of other Winter Pride guests there for you to meet and feel at home with.