SpringOut: 20 Years On

Who knew that a chat amongst friends chilling out in their living room would turn into the celebration of Canberra's LGBTIQ community that we all knowna nd love as SpringOut?

It became apparent that Canberra wanted its very own Pride Festival. We wanted to party like it was 1999. In fact, the idea of formalising a Canberra Pride Festival was formed in that year.

What began as a simple gathering of like-minded family and friends, grew into a month-long celebration of music, performance, art, sport, theatre, and dancing. All those wonderful things that enrich our community.

Thanks to the then President of the AIDS Action Council Steve Erskine, Siobhan Leyne and some of their friends, SpringOUT sprang out.

“SpringOUT was started by the community for the community and evolved from Fair Day,” states Philippa Moss, the Executive Director of the AIDS Action Council. “First there was Fair Day, then there was SpringOUT.”

It was Mike Howard, his partner Tom Hughes, and a group of their friends, who had an idea to have a dance that would raise money for their Monday night tennis group — Pink Tennis.

Fair Day was, of course, not the only LGBTIQ community event that was happening way back then. Ever since 1984, Bushdance had us stomping the floors to “Strip the Willow” and “The Waves of Bondi”.

The first ever Bushdance saw over 250 people turn up at the Yarralumla Woolshed and was so successful that they were able to donate surplus funds to other LGBTIQ community groups.

Now Canberra’s largest LGBTIQ event, Bushdance, which attracts people from all over Australia, is a major highlight of the SpringOUT Festival. Bushdance has become so successful, tickets sell out within days of their release. In fact, it is such a popular event that “even the waitlist is now too long,” jokes Pink Tennis President, Fenkil Abraha. Bushdance’s success has allowed Pink Tennis to become a significant financial contributor to many Canberra LGBTIQ community groups.

Alongside Bushdance there has also been a long tradition of women’s only dances in Canberra. These events have been an important factor in creating ‘safe spaces’ for women to relax and have fun. Events like ‘Purple Parties’ and ‘Fruit Tingles’ brought people together and raised funds for local and overseas charities.

In 2011 — after several tragic suicide deaths in our community — ‘Fruit Tingles’ was born to foster a greater sense of community and belonging. The event also raises money for the Beryl Women’s Inc refuge and other local LGBTIQ charities.

Sponsored by Canberra’s Northside Community Service, Fruit Tingles — now another of SpringOUT’s key events — has gone from a simple dance evening to an event with local DJs, stalls, games and even massages. Fruit Tingles has also been active in supporting some fantastic live acts like drag, comedy and everyone’s favourites the Hit ‘n’ Miss drummers.

“With Fruit Tingles, the intention is and always will be, to have a safe space for women and femme-identifying individuals, to have fun, not necessarily to dance,” the dance’s organiser, Krishna Sadhana explains. “To feel welcome. To have a laugh. To feel that we are part of something.”

We asked, Leanne Staggard, former SpringOUT committee member, Catherine Laverty of Hit ‘n’ Miss, and Saige from ‘Trans Fam @ ANU’, if they would share some of their favourite festival memories.

“The highlight for me was meeting Stephen Fry in 2015,” Leanne recalls. “We even tried to get him to Bushdance and almost made it. He really wanted to, but security concerns halted that. Instead, we had a lovely meet and greet and got some tickets to his show to give away.

“My favourite memory is being the first group of ‘Dykes on Bikes’ to bring in the drag queens to start off proceedings,” says Catherine. “I’m looking forward to doing it again this year and hopefully for many years to come.”

Saige told us, “It was when we mustered our chosen Canberra family for the inaugural SpringOUT Community Picnic. For us, it was a celebration of diversity and freedom, not just of our queer and trans identities, but also of our rainbow family and disabled autonomy, too. We brought delicious cake, and one of us gave free haircuts on the day.”

From its humble beginnings, SpringOUT has come a long way and extends its gratitude to everyone who has contributed so much over the past 20 years. Without the efforts of so many dedicated community members, SpringOUT would not be what it is today, so a BIG thank you to you all.

As well as Fair Day, Bushdance and Fruit Tingles, SpringOUT now includes a swag of fabulous and fun events.

Some highlights include The FUSE Big Gay Breakfast, which has its 10th anniversary this year. YES!Fest, a rock’n street party in Braddon. The all-new Big Community Picnic, which was a great hit last year with more than 450 people spending a fabulous day in the park.

Plus of course, there is a whole bunch of popup and smaller festival events throughout the month covering, music, sports, theatre, movies, queer talks, wine tasting, and so much more.

This year SpingOUT is also excited about the inclusion of TuggersPRIDE. Aidan Delaney, the Creative Producer of TuggersPRIDE, told us:

“TuggersPRIDE follows on from a number of projects at Tuggeranong Arts Centre (TAC) over the last few years designed to celebrate LGBTIQ arts and culture in Tuggeranong. By connecting the TuggersPRIDE program to other projects and events, such as the SouthFest community festival, we hope to promote queer artists and communities as an essential part of, not distinct from, the broader cultural life of southern Canberra. The program has also been developed to highlight the diversity of the LGBTIQ community with a focus on First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse queer artists.

We are excited to have major national artists such as Electric Fields, Constantina Bush, Benjamin Law, and Mama Alto appearing alongside local performers and artists including, Shoeb Ahmad, Florin Risley, MadB, and Yen Eriksen just to name a few.”

SpringOUT is grateful for all the support it has enjoyed over many years, as well as the continuing commitment from our key partners including the ACT government, AIDS Action Council, Northside Community Service and our very own local LGBTIQ publication, FUSE Magazine.