Pink Loerie Mardi Gras Knysna
About This Event
The Pink Loerie Mardi Gras and Arts Festival is the Garden Route's pride carnival. Local businessmen started it in Knysna in 2000 or 2001 (sources differ), among them Juan Lerm-Hoffman, co-founder of Mr Gay South Africa. The aim was to bring visitors to town in the quiet weeks before winter. Knysna hosted Mr Gay World in 2015 and 2018, and in 2016 the festival staged what was billed as Africa's first mass same-sex wedding, with 16 couples.
Over a long weekend there are drag shows, arts events and parties. It ends with the Knysna Pride parade down Main Road on the Saturday and a large after-party.
Recent years have been patchy. The 2019 edition was postponed for lack of sponsors and 2020 was cancelled because of Covid. The festival returned from 29 April to 1 May 2022 as its 22nd edition. We couldn't find reliable coverage of any edition in 2023, 2024 or 2025. On 27 April 2026, days before the planned 30 April start, the Pink Loerie Foundation announced it was moving the festival to 24-27 September to line up with Heritage Day. It blamed long-weekend congestion and rising fuel and airfare costs, and set the theme as 'Rainbow Heritage: United in Diversity'. We found no report confirming that the September event took place, and the foundation's website showed an under-construction notice when we checked.
The 2027 dates hadn't been announced.
Where to stay during Pink Loerie Mardi Gras Knysna
via Stay22Schedule & Sub-Events
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Check the official website for the latest programme.
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