![The Wagga Mardi Gras festival committee, Matt Luff, Christina Scurr, Helen Foley, Holly Conroy, Margot Schoonmaker, Cristy Houghton and Alex Osgood, have changed the date for the 2025 festival. Supplied picture The Wagga Mardi Gras festival committee, Matt Luff, Christina Scurr, Helen Foley, Holly Conroy, Margot Schoonmaker, Cristy Houghton and Alex Osgood, have changed the date for the 2025 festival. Supplied picture](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/234655866/8bb7984e-e980-452d-832b-a522e5fd7181.jpg/r0_91_720_496_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
All the colour, glitz and glamour of the Wagga Mardi Gras festival will be moved in 2025, due to hot conditions and other pride festivals around regional Australia.
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This year's parade took place on March 9, with thousands lining Baylis Street on the scorching 35-degree day to show their support for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Next year the event will be pushed back to April 5, the organising committee announced on Tuesday.
Wagga Mardi Gras festival founder Holly Conroy said they considered community feedback when planning next year's event, hoping the later date will mean cooler temperatures.
"It is a community event at the end of the day, and we were getting a lot of feedback that it was quite warm," Ms Conroy said.
"Once you're in the parade and putting on costumes and things like that, when the temperatures start getting up there, it can be quite uncomfortable.
"Our main priority is not only that the community have a safe and fun event, but you know that their health and wellbeing is also being taken care of."
Another reason to hold the event later is to avoid clashing with another popular pride event, the ChillOut Festival in Daylesford, Victoria.
Ms Conroy hopes the change of date will enable people to be at both events to celebrate pride in country Australia.
"I think that regional pride events are so important and to have two pride events on the same weekend didn't make a lot of sense," she said.
Wagga Mardi Gras parade now in its sixth year
Ms Conroy and the committee always look to bring a bigger and better event each year, with planning already underway for 2025.
"We've already had three or four committee meetings this year, so we're truly already starting organising this event," she said.
"Every year since the event has been going, the parade's gotten bigger each year, so we're having more and more participants joining the parade, which is great.
"People just look forward to it because it gives them a safe platform, which is something that rural areas don't always have for the LGBT community."