Programme, 'Auckland pride festival'

This programme was created for the Auckland Pride Festival and Parade in February 2013. This was the first time GLBTI (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex) communities were able to produce a large-scale public event since the demise of the Hero Parade in 2001 (which suffered mainly from financial constraints).

Hero was one of New Zealand's most significant GLBTI community events of the 1990s and early 2000s. Along with Wellington's Devotion Festival in the 1990s, the annual dance parties, parades, film festivals and associated activities celebrated and strengthened the pride and health of GLBTI communities. The festivals drew huge crowds and were vibrant and safe places to publicly express identity and sexuality, and were welcoming to all.

The 1990s in general saw a blossoming of gay and lesbian pride. Hero and Devotion were some of the more public fruits of change in society following on from Homosexual Law Reform in 1986. Hero was particularly groundbreaking with its vibrant street parade which at times caused controversy for overt expressions of sexuality.