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Knysna turns pink

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Kelly Wheeler
March 31st, 2010

The Pink Loerie Mardi Gras Knysna is the continent's answer to the flamboyance of the Rio de Janeiro carnival - only with a touch of African flair.

The festival was first thought up to prevent the dreariness of May from keeping the tourists away from Knysna and driving the residents to suicide (not exaggerating).

Johan and Juan, the co-founders, took inspiration from pink gin, a local bird, some glitter lipstick and the need to celebrate the gay community.

With overwhelming support from the Knysna community, the first Pink Loerie Mardi Gras was held in 2001 and has simply got brighter and more flamboyant ever since.

Who should go

Boys, girls, wannabe girls, wannabe boys, gay, straight - anyone and everyone is welcome as long as you are not afraid of high heels and have the stamina to party through the night.

What to expect

Expect anything as long as it is over the top, pink, feathery and awesome.

Enthusiastic participants of a Gay Pride Parade

The festival generally opens with a fantastic show. Think old school showgirl fabulousness - headdresses, feathers, legs kicking, sequins and skimpy outfits. The glamour is unparalleled, with the only downside being that you will have to begrudgingly admit that most of those men have better legs than you do.

The rest of the festival includes endless partying, beauty queen competitions (pun intended) and of course the legendary parade that takes over the streets. The winner for the best costume in the parade wins a Vuka Scuta - pink of course.

The competition details are as follows:

Miss Mardi Gras 2010 - honouring the true art of the drag queen
Me. Mardi Gras Drag - the more mature and experienced girls

Venue: Tryst Dance Club & Cocktail Lounge

When: 29 April 2010 at 8 pm.

Those who would like to enter need to contact John-Louis on john@clubmusic.co.za

Mr Mardi Gras 2010 (& Eastern Cape regional final Mr. Gay South Africa 2010) and Mr Underwear SA 2010

Venue: Zanzibar

When: 30 April 2010 at 9 pm.

Those who would like to enter need to email coenie@mrgaysouthafrica.co.za

Who gets involved

Everyone. And we mean everyone. And this is reason enough for many people to visit the festival - it is worth it just to see oupa from the corner winkel in a feather boa and serving pink lemonade.

Restaurants serve pink champagne with breakfast and desserts always include strawberries and Turkish delights.

So don't be surprised if your toast comes out in a heart shape or your salad is suspiciously pink - let go and enjoy the spirit of an entire town working together for a very good cause. No, not the campaign to get pink to rule the world (as it should), but rather raising awareness and understanding of gay issues as well as the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

And looking fabulous while doing it.

There are no limits to the creativity of the outfits at the Pink Loerie Mardi Gras

What not to expect

Firstly, men of the straight variety should not expect to be judged for drinking a strawberry daiquiri. In fact, having a colourful cocktail in hand is almost mandatory.

Do not expect intolerance. And do not expect your intolerance to be tolerated.

Don't expect it to be easy to drive through Knysna this weekend. The volumes of people and cars will astound you. Try and book accommodation close to the centre of town so that you can walk instead of drive. Your wig and show dress would just get wrinkled in a car anyway.

Who benefits

My bet would be that the clever clogs who thought to supply and sell the pink feathers and boas is undoubtedly the winner in this category. But essentially the entire town gets a boost in a low season where tourism (one of Knysna's main income generators) is in a serious lull.

Also known as the secret season, vacationing at this time does have its merits. The festival also celebrates gay culture in a beautiful environment and raises awareness for gay issues.

And the most important thing... what to wear

Think feathers (ostrich, not pigeon). Think boas (feathers, not constrictors). Think heels (stiletto, not kitten). Think pink (neon, not baby). Think glitter (sequins, not bad Mariah movie).

Feathers and African inspired outfits help the Pink Loeries turn a Mardi Gras into a truly African event

The list goes on and the great thing about the Pink Loerie Festival is that there are no rules (except nothing boring of course). Go as bright, as flamboyant, as ridiculous as you like. You never have to worry about looking silly as it is guaranteed that there will be at least ten people who have gone more over the top than you have.

When:27 April - 2 May 2010

Where: All over Knysna in the Western Cape

Contact: Coenie@mrgaysouthafrica.co.za

Check out the pics from previous Pink Loeries in our gallery!

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User Comments

I wonder if my outfit will

Submitted by Andrada on Wed, 04/21/2010 - 20:54.

I wonder if my outfit will be good enough for Pink Loerie, i have a dress with feathers made by my grand-mother who worked in costume-making at a theater and for my hair i have Clip-in hair extensions with sparkling beads.If this is about no rules, i should have a lot of fun wearing that at such a great festival.

Gay tourist

Submitted by Cybergay UK on Wed, 04/07/2010 - 14:55.

I want to visit South Africa for the gay festival in Knysna but can somebody please tell me whether South Africans are really such narrow-minded bigots?

I agree with your circle

Submitted by Interloper on Wed, 04/07/2010 - 07:46.

I agree with you, but the arrogance of that statement that we always have to hear (i.e. just don't push your gay life down my throat) just gets to me. Jupiter, try and think for a moment what it is like for a gay person to be bombarded by heterosexual imagery every moment of the day - in the streets, magazines, tv, nearly all print - all the time. Every now and then there is a gay event - and you were not forced to read this article and you are not forced to go - so deal with it.

Do homophobes seriously think that moaning and bitching about gay people will make them dissapear? Gay people have always been there - and will always be there. Gay people have heterosexual parents for crying out loud (but I guess YOU can never have a gay child) ... so you can carry on and condemn gay people as much as you like but it is not going to make any difference but to show your intolerance and bias.

Some people are gay. Get over it.

Make the circle bigger

Submitted by Prickly Pear on Wed, 04/07/2010 - 00:23.

I think let's leave the throats out of it as we will never truly have the feeling of love without swallowing some one's hidden agenda! So let's embrace it!.. for all it's GLORY.....the Pink Loerie! Mwah

@ Ja Whatever

Submitted by Interloper on Tue, 04/06/2010 - 22:32.

Stop forcing your heterosexual life down gay people's throats. I am sick of it.

Ja whatever

Submitted by Jupiter on Tue, 04/06/2010 - 15:11.

Not everyone is a gay basher... if we dont agree with it then surely we are all entitled to our own opinions as well. If it blows your hair back then go for it, I dont approve, but I get on with my life. Stop forcing your Pink Way OF Life down straight peoples throats.

gay pride

Submitted by james on Tue, 04/06/2010 - 15:06.

Gay pride mmmm between 500 and 1000 life time sex partners, lifespan 20yrs shorter than Hetero's, more than 3x more likely to see a shrink than Hetero, Masturbated on ST Patrics Cathedral steps on 5th ave. in NY during another "Gay Pride" parade.

Very Very sad

Submitted by John on Tue, 04/06/2010 - 12:26.

Its a sad day when humankind parades his/her shameful and unnatural ways for all the world to see. Can you not see that man was made for woman, and vice versa? And we call ourselves educated? Just look at your private parts and see the natural order of life. Admit that the problem is not with the world rejecting you, you are rejecting who you were made to be! If you are a man, be a man. Find out what is holding you back from being who you were designed to be! Don't take others along with you on your confusing rollercoaster ride.

Pink Loerie Mardi Gras 10th year

Submitted by Coenie on Fri, 04/02/2010 - 18:18.

Thank you to GoTravel for a wonderful report.

For more on the Pink Loerie, visit the Facebook group here:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6804407596

Will all the gay bashers

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 04/02/2010 - 10:32.

Will all the gay bashers just get lost! Problem is you're secretly harbouring the desire to come out but too afraid to so it's easier to be a 'basher'. If half the world was gay, what a stunning, colourful and safer world we'd all be living in. If we were alll more tolerable of each other, we wouldn't have half the problem we're experiencing right now. Get lost, grow up, nobody asked you to be there.

Pink Loerie

Submitted by Bryan Porter on Thu, 04/01/2010 - 10:10.

I've had the pleasure of attending a couple of the Pink Loerie festivals over the years. Despite some of the comments we've seen below, the thing that always impresses me about this festival is how the entire town turns out to support the parade. Tourists and residents throng the streets, with the most unlikely looking supporters setting up their camper chairs and pulling a lager out of the coolbox. Children happily run along side floats adorned with drag queens, waving pink ostrich feathers, and everyone, everyone is smiling.

This festival is about pride. And I for one have always felt proud participating. Proud of being gay and out, and proud of being a South African.

Amazement at homo-hatred

Submitted by RiAAn StAls on Wed, 03/31/2010 - 22:20.

Geez, people!! Three of four comments just oooooozing homophobia, and strongly reeking of homo-hatred. I am saddened, but not really shocked, by the incomprehensible intolerance seen here (and much elsewhere in what used to be The Rainbow Nation). Comments range from "a shame" through "disgusting" to "the filth we are forced to accept as normal", and include reference to that mysterious non-thing, the "Homosexual Agenda".
There is some nice scientific evidence available that Derek Salter is correct therein that homophobia is underlain by repressed homosexuality. I'm not so sure of this, despite being a biologist myself ... if this would be true, ours would indeed have been one Real Gay Nation!
Come on, live and let live! Which necessarily translates to: "Let live and live"!