Wānaka Pride Week is hitting its biggest day today (Saturday September 6), with a street party and late-night finale to follow a string of sold-out events and community initiatives across town.

The message for today, regardless of the weather, is that the Pride Street Party will go on.

“We are able to move most of the festivities inside the Lake Wānaka Centre ... as it'll be a mostly indoor event,” event manager Celine Van der Eeckenn said.

Celine said it had been a “busy and exciting” week so far, with strong local support at every step.

“We're overwhelmed with the amount of support we've had so far.”

The week began with two days of mental health First Aid training for locals who work with rangatahi, in collaboration with Path Wānaka and Community Link.

This had a “great turnout and fantastic to provide training like this thanks to the support of ticket buyers, funders, donors and attendees”, Celine said.

On Wednesday night (September 3) the Wānaka Community Hub hosted a sold-out Queer Film Festival - “a wholesome evening celebrating the rainbow community”.

Other highlights over the week so far included Thursday’s (September 4) Queers & Beers at Rhyme X Reason and last night’s (Friday September 5) Drag Bingo, which sold out with more than 200 tickets sold.

Today’s programme begins with the Pride Ride, departing the Wānaka Rugby Grounds at 1.30pm and arriving at the Lake Wānaka Centre for the official opening of the Pride Street Party at 2pm.

This will run until 6pm with three stages of live music, drag and dance performances, food stalls, an artisan market and family-friendly activities. The Lip Sync Battle Finale is expected to be a highlight.

Festivities will continue into the night with Pride After Dark, an R18 showcase of DJs, drag, burlesque and aerial silks. 

Wānaka Pride Week is organised by Out&about Wānaka.

PHOTO: Supplied