Celebrating PRIDE at the FABalice Festival

Posted on March 18, 2019 by

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A Drag Queen performing at the FABalice Festival

This weekend just past, the inaugural FABalice Festival was held in the Red Centre to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and provide a safe celebratory space in the Red Centre for individual expression.

For the festival a number of popular Drag Queens from around Australia were brought into the Red Centre for “Drag, glitter, racing and performances.” And let me tell you, they delivered on all four of these things. While the festival had a couple of free events stages all around town, in order to participate in the Quarry Party and the Pool Party, you needed to purchase a rainbow wrist band to gain access. A couple of my friends decided we were keen for the Quarry Party so snapped up festival passes as soon as they were released.

Rainbow Wrist band from the FABalice festival 2019

The festival started on the Friday night with a ‘drag crawl’ to three different bars around town. Unfortunately I didn’t get to participate in this event as I had a previous dinner, but from what I heard, it was a great time.

The festival kicked on Saturday morning with an activity to ‘Paint the Town’ with a rainbow flag, followed by a parade and ‘drag races.’ The festival then progressed to the Quarry Party and a show by Throb, a drag bar from Darwin. I didn’t stay for the Throb show as I was feeling a little unwell, but I heard it was pretty good.

I really enjoyed ‘painting the town’ in chalk to create a rainbow walkway down the Todd Mall. It was so nice to see everyone getting involved, crawling around on the ground, colouring in and having a great time. Bonus: the outdoor mall looked so gorgeous.

The Todd Mall coloured at a Pride rainbow flag

The Quarry Party was so much more than I’d thought it would be. The rolling red hills made for an amazing backdrop to the party put on my DJ Kitty Glitter and the drag performances that ran throughout the night.

The Quarry at sunset at the FABalice Festival
Three Drag Queens performing at the FABalice Festival
Three Drag Queens performing in a Tina Arena Tribute Show at the FABalice Festival
The Tina Arena Tribute Show!
A Drag Queen performing in a Tina Arena Tribute Show at the FABalice Festival
The Tina Arena Tribute Show

I had such a great time at this festival, and I’m looking forward to future editions of this festival.

Category: Lifestyle, Red CentreTags: , , , , ,

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About Me

Emma standing in front of some graffiti art on the MONA Ferry

Hi there! I’m Emma, an Aussie with a bucket-list and a goal to check every item off my list. Join me on my bucket-list adventure as we experience as much of the world as possible.

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When I finished uni I went straight into work. I didn't take a break because I couldn't afford to. While I had worked all through uni I certainly hadn't been able to save as much money as I had hoped, particularly in my last year of study when I had to go on two very large (unpaid) placements in schools. Lucky for me, during my 1st year of teaching I was often being sent up to darwin to undertake further professional learning in development, and while I was committed to working between the hours of 8am and 4:20pm, the evenings were mine and I sought out adventure. #adventure #tbt #travelthroback #cageofdeath #travelmemories
I made a commitment to myself at the start of the year that I would prioritize my physical and mental health over my job. It's not really something I've ever been good at, and seeing as I was starting a new job I knew it was going to be important. For a long time my actively acknowledged life moto was: "if you're going to do it, you might as well do it properly." It sounds good on paper but if you are a worry wort perfectionist like me who has exceedingly high expectations of herself, its not great. Its actually a rather crushing pressure to be carrying. So back to the opening statement of this post. I have not been doing a great job at prioritizing my physical and mental health. I let myself bring work home and work on into thw night and on weekends, and I've found myself trapped in a fog of negativity. I've developed lower back and foot pain and have started having panic attacks. But yesterday I went for a run along the dry river bed and it was liberating. I didn't run the whole track, but I did run about 80% of it, and proved to myself that it is possible. It was like a light switched on for me, just a small one, and it is making the fog easier to navigate. The new goal is to run the river track 3 times this week. Let's go! #anxiety #running #runningfrommyproblems #goals #sunset #fitness #mentalhealth
Two years into my double bachelor degree I started to crave an adventure. I was completing a double degree which was equivalent to a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of teaching. The first two years were the most boring two years of study of my life (that's a bachelor of arts for you). I was seriously contemplating dropping out. I needed a break. One of my friends was also at a bit of a cross roads, and during one of our regular catch ups we started fantasising about going on a cruise. In our minds a cruise was a luxurious way to travel to exotic destinations for a relatively affordable price. I was a full time uni student working a cleaning job part time and she was living by herself (rent is the worst here) and had a minimum wage job. It seemed perfect. We went to our travel agency and booked a 10 day cruise with P&O over the January uni holidays. The cruise involved two sea days leaving and going into Sydney, but the rest of the cruise promised waking up to a new island everyday. The itinerary included Mystery Island, Port Vila, Lifou and Isle of Pines. During our port days we explored the islands and did heaps of snorkeling When I think back to this cruise, it's with mixed feelings. I had a really good time but I discovered that the cruise life was not for me. Being trapped on a boat and only having a couple of hours to explore a destination was not the right type of travel for me. #travelmemories #tbt #cruise #pocruises #wearetravelgirls
Sunday morning drives and hikes withe puppy friends 🤗 #hiking #sundaydrive #redcentrent
Travel throwback 1: East Timor Prior to 2010 I had never been overseas. As someone who had grownup in a family where money was sometimes (actually, kinda often) a problem, overseas travel was not something that I'd experienced. Because of this, I didn't even have any real dreams or desires for overseas travel. It didn't really exist to me. When I was 17, my Catholic high school was offering a small group of students an opportunity to go to East Timor on an 'immersion' trip. If you were lucky enough to be selected, the experience would involve 3 months of fundraising prior to take off, and visiting various Marist Brothers locations in East Timor to make donations. The trip would last a week. The selection process involved being interviewed by a panel of teachers and writing a 1000 word essay about the historic relationship between East Timor and Australia. I worked my butt off in order to be selected to participate in this trip. A lot of people say that their first overseas trip opens their eyes to other ways of life and fuels their desire to travel even more. This is not my personal narrative. While I was, for the first time, exposed to extreme poverty and my eyes were certainty opened, the travel seed, while planted, didn't sow. And it wouldn't for about 2 more years. While we were in East Timor we visited a local English teaching school a handful of a times, and each time we visited we partook in an English lesson with the other local students. It was this experience that made me realise that teaching was the thing for me. The idea became cemented in my mind quickly and hasn't left almost 10 years later. My first overseas trip was one of personal discovery, and it set me on the path I currently walk. #stories #travelstories #wearetravelgirls #girlswhotravel #travelthrowback #worldwanderlust
This year I took the plunge to try something new. Last year I felt like I was becoming disillusioned with the senior high school context. I felt like I was constantly battling to get the results bureaucrats demand of schools and teachers. It started to feel like my values and teaching philosophy was being violated. I started to question myself, "was teaching the right occupation for me?" In short I started to feel burnt out. After much reflection I decided that teaching was the career for me. I love it. But my current location, while a great place to start, wasn't working for me anymore. One afternoon early last year I was discussing this with one of my more senior mentors and she said "have you thought of primary school?" I instantly cringed away from the suggestion. No! That wasn't even an option. I'm high school trained. I'm not a huge fan of little kids. Maths scares me! I expelled the idea from my mind and went on my not so merry way. But as I continued struggling through my disillusionment the idea crept back into my mind. I'm already teaching students in year 10 that read and write at a grade 5 level. Maybe some time in a primary school would teach me something I could use in the high school context in the future. Once the seed had been planeted it started to grow and took hold. Suddenly working in a primary school sounded like a great idea. So I made it happen. I took the plunge and transferred to a primary school. The only thing is...I hate it. #stories #aussieteachertribe #wheretonext
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When I finished uni I went straight into work. I didn't take a break because I couldn't afford to. While I had worked all through uni I certainly hadn't been able to save as much money as I had hoped, particularly in my last year of study when I had to go on two very large (unpaid) placements in schools. Lucky for me, during my 1st year of teaching I was often being sent up to darwin to undertake further professional learning in development, and while I was committed to working between the hours of 8am and 4:20pm, the evenings were mine and I sought out adventure. #adventure #tbt #travelthroback #cageofdeath #travelmemories
I made a commitment to myself at the start of the year that I would prioritize my physical and mental health over my job. It's not really something I've ever been good at, and seeing as I was starting a new job I knew it was going to be important. For a long time my actively acknowledged life moto was: "if you're going to do it, you might as well do it properly." It sounds good on paper but if you are a worry wort perfectionist like me who has exceedingly high expectations of herself, its not great. Its actually a rather crushing pressure to be carrying. So back to the opening statement of this post. I have not been doing a great job at prioritizing my physical and mental health. I let myself bring work home and work on into thw night and on weekends, and I've found myself trapped in a fog of negativity. I've developed lower back and foot pain and have started having panic attacks. But yesterday I went for a run along the dry river bed and it was liberating. I didn't run the whole track, but I did run about 80% of it, and proved to myself that it is possible. It was like a light switched on for me, just a small one, and it is making the fog easier to navigate. The new goal is to run the river track 3 times this week. Let's go! #anxiety #running #runningfrommyproblems #goals #sunset #fitness #mentalhealth
Two years into my double bachelor degree I started to crave an adventure. I was completing a double degree which was equivalent to a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of teaching. The first two years were the most boring two years of study of my life (that's a bachelor of arts for you). I was seriously contemplating dropping out. I needed a break. One of my friends was also at a bit of a cross roads, and during one of our regular catch ups we started fantasising about going on a cruise. In our minds a cruise was a luxurious way to travel to exotic destinations for a relatively affordable price. I was a full time uni student working a cleaning job part time and she was living by herself (rent is the worst here) and had a minimum wage job. It seemed perfect. We went to our travel agency and booked a 10 day cruise with P&O over the January uni holidays. The cruise involved two sea days leaving and going into Sydney, but the rest of the cruise promised waking up to a new island everyday. The itinerary included Mystery Island, Port Vila, Lifou and Isle of Pines. During our port days we explored the islands and did heaps of snorkeling When I think back to this cruise, it's with mixed feelings. I had a really good time but I discovered that the cruise life was not for me. Being trapped on a boat and only having a couple of hours to explore a destination was not the right type of travel for me. #travelmemories #tbt #cruise #pocruises #wearetravelgirls
Sunday morning drives and hikes withe puppy friends 🤗 #hiking #sundaydrive #redcentrent
Travel throwback 1: East Timor Prior to 2010 I had never been overseas. As someone who had grownup in a family where money was sometimes (actually, kinda often) a problem, overseas travel was not something that I'd experienced. Because of this, I didn't even have any real dreams or desires for overseas travel. It didn't really exist to me. When I was 17, my Catholic high school was offering a small group of students an opportunity to go to East Timor on an 'immersion' trip. If you were lucky enough to be selected, the experience would involve 3 months of fundraising prior to take off, and visiting various Marist Brothers locations in East Timor to make donations. The trip would last a week. The selection process involved being interviewed by a panel of teachers and writing a 1000 word essay about the historic relationship between East Timor and Australia. I worked my butt off in order to be selected to participate in this trip. A lot of people say that their first overseas trip opens their eyes to other ways of life and fuels their desire to travel even more. This is not my personal narrative. While I was, for the first time, exposed to extreme poverty and my eyes were certainty opened, the travel seed, while planted, didn't sow. And it wouldn't for about 2 more years. While we were in East Timor we visited a local English teaching school a handful of a times, and each time we visited we partook in an English lesson with the other local students. It was this experience that made me realise that teaching was the thing for me. The idea became cemented in my mind quickly and hasn't left almost 10 years later. My first overseas trip was one of personal discovery, and it set me on the path I currently walk. #stories #travelstories #wearetravelgirls #girlswhotravel #travelthrowback #worldwanderlust
This year I took the plunge to try something new. Last year I felt like I was becoming disillusioned with the senior high school context. I felt like I was constantly battling to get the results bureaucrats demand of schools and teachers. It started to feel like my values and teaching philosophy was being violated. I started to question myself, "was teaching the right occupation for me?" In short I started to feel burnt out. After much reflection I decided that teaching was the career for me. I love it. But my current location, while a great place to start, wasn't working for me anymore. One afternoon early last year I was discussing this with one of my more senior mentors and she said "have you thought of primary school?" I instantly cringed away from the suggestion. No! That wasn't even an option. I'm high school trained. I'm not a huge fan of little kids. Maths scares me! I expelled the idea from my mind and went on my not so merry way. But as I continued struggling through my disillusionment the idea crept back into my mind. I'm already teaching students in year 10 that read and write at a grade 5 level. Maybe some time in a primary school would teach me something I could use in the high school context in the future. Once the seed had been planeted it started to grow and took hold. Suddenly working in a primary school sounded like a great idea. So I made it happen. I took the plunge and transferred to a primary school. The only thing is...I hate it. #stories #aussieteachertribe #wheretonext
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