The inaugural Katherine Pride Festival brought together people of all walks of life last weekend to share in the celebration of diversity with the LGBTQIA+ community.

The festival, run by Top End Pride, was held from June 18 to 20 and served up no shortage of entertainment.

Hundreds appeared at the various events throughout the three-day festival including, but not limited to, Katherine Pride Story Time, discussion forums, Pride Picnic Day, Drag Queen Bingo and more.

"We had people come, some go, some stay but I think most people stayed because there was something to see at every turn," Top End Pride chairperson, Amber Sayers-Hunt said.

"Of course we had all the dogs turn up for the Pride Pooches which was fantastic, they were all dressed up and had make up on. Some even had spray-painted eyes on their bums.

"It was received so well by everyone in Katherine. The local businesses and Council supported us, the Library decorated the inside and made sure they had some nice areas for us to use along with a display of LGBTQIA+ books."

People of all ages and communities joined in the festivities, building on the momentum to normalise how the LGBTQIA+ community are perceived in society.

"The most heartwarming thing was seeing all the kids there, there were so many young teenagers who had showed up and were happy to wear a pride flag and own it," Amber said.

"Then there were the older members of our community who have experienced some awful things, persecution and things like that, so it's nice to see them come out as well.

"They [older members] all have very interesting stories to tell that we need to remember because that's what the Pride movement is about.

"It started 50 years ago in NYC, it was an uprising against the police, so it's not all about glitter and g-strings, it's about our history and understanding why it's held.

"It's about people seeing us as normal human beings who aren't here to hurt anyone. We're just here to live our lives the best we can in the minds of who we are inside."

It is likely the festival will return in 2022 but before any promises are made, Top End Pride committee along with the Katherine Pride sub-committee members, Ben Herdon, Christine May, Melissa Favero, will determine the financial viability before confirming.

"We have to cross the t's and dot the I's to make sure that the event paid for itself," Amber said.

"We intend to send a survey to some of the participants to see if we can get some constructive feedback.

"It's their festival, we can only hazard a guess at what they might like to see."

The Darwin Pride Festival will be held from September 3 to 5, and tickets can be purchased from https://topendpride.com.au/.

"It is going to be enormous," Amber said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: