Mad Pride 2024 – ‘Let’s talk about it’
Thank you to everyone who joined us at #MadPride2024 in October 2024 at Carriageworks on Gadigal Land.
Mad Pride is a free community event designed for and by young people. The event celebrates young people’s strengths and vision, and aims to give a safe and supported platform to express their mental health experiences.
This was the 17th year Weave has hosted a Mad Pride event. Weave’s Speak Weave’s Dual Diagnosis Program team supports a committee of young people who plan, prepare and curate every detail of the event. These young people brought so much ambition, creativity, thoughtfulness, and energy to making Mad Pride 2024 an unforgettable event.
Mad Pride opened with a heartfelt Acknowledgement of Country by Weave Board Member, Nellie, and a smoking ceremony led by Uncle Dean, with Mark and Beau from our Aboriginal Cultural Engagement team. A highlight of the opening ceremony was seeing Weave’s Kool Kids dance three traditional dances outside in the afternoon sunlight, with the grand facade of the old Carriageworks building in the background.
Video by Amanaki Studios
The theme for Mental Health Month 2024 was ‘Let’s talk about it.
This theme inspired much conversation amongst the young steering committee about the ways we talk about our mental health experiences, who we feel we are able to talk to, and where are the places we can talk about them safely.
The concept of ‘the third space’ was identified as a social place separate from home or school/work. The existence of communal spaces, or colloquially known as ‘third spaces’, are at threat of disappearing due to technology and the new way we socialise and connect with others, and it is becoming rare to find places to make friends and talk with others face to face.
The steering committee decided to lean into Mad Pride being an example of a safe third space.
A large mural was painted of a streetscape to set the scene.
Activities were created to support this theme and encourage connections at Mad Pride. All forms of conversation were considered and different formats were provided to accommodate all styles of interaction.
The Portraits corner to encourage strangers to sit face to face, draw each other’s portraits and ‘have a conversation without words’.
Handmade bracelets were gifted to every Mad Pride attendee with the caveat that if you preferred a different style you would approach a stranger, begin a conversation and a trade might occur.
100 handwritten conversation cards were placed strategically around the event which offered prompts, and clever and curious questions to get to know the people around you.
‘We are committed, for at least for one day, to bring life to a place in which young people, and all people, can exercise their need for communication, social interaction and self expression. We are dedicated to bringing forth the discussions of vulnerability and mental health to undercurrent the fun and excitement that these communal spaces hold and to inspire all to seek these opportunities for human connection.’
– Weave Youth Advocates
Mad Pride attendees enjoyed food by Shorty’s burgers, Salvation Army sausage sizzle, Krispy Kreme donuts, popcorn, slushies, and fairy floss.
The Art exhibition was filled with over 50 original artworks made by young local artists, many exhibiting and selling work for the first time.
9 Young people gave impressive performances of rap, spoken word, and song. Kids enjoyed colouring in land, photo booth, lawn games, facepainting and temporary tattoo parlour. The Community Hair Project set up for free haircuts all afternoon, Elders sat in their VIP tent or around the fire pits.
A special feature this year was an original meditative soundscape which could be heard on a loop in the ‘Serene on the Green’ tent; a sensory chill out space.
In June this year, Weave’s Young Women’s group attended Bamarang camp where they recorded the sounds of the bush around them.
This is how the group describes their creation…
The crackling of embers, the singing of birds, the flow of the river, the footsteps embracing the earth and the unbridled joy and laughter born from the growing bonds and connections that the young women have built with this experience.
These sounds come together to create a therapeutic, primal feeling of connection with life, both in human and nature, all underscored by the harmonious tones of talented youth advocate members.
This audio snapshot hopes to paint a picture of the very human need to create bonds, in any environment, and to reconcile and restore with this inherent attribute of the human spirit.
Special thanks to our event sponsors and partners – City of Sydney, South Eveleigh, Carriageworks, Jack Morton, Nandos, Krispy Kreme, Pop Up Gardens, DPLR, Exclusive Booths, Community Hair Project and Amanaki Studios.
Photography by Natalie Petersen
