Once confined to the homophobic closet, the gathering of like-minded souls and sexualities known as the Tropical Fruits is now being hailed as one of the Northern Rivers’ major festivals, and a major earner for local businesses at a usually quiet time for host city Lismore.
The now-annual Tropical Fruits festival, which peaks with a glitzy all-night party on New Year’s eve, is not only out in the open but being welcomed by Lismore City Council, and much of the local citizenry.
It has even begun to put Lismore on the national and international lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/intersex map, attracting an estimated 5,000 participants, half of them from elsewhere. The financial trickle-down to the local economy from the 2015-16 events was put at around $5 million.
The highlights were a colorful street parade through Lismore, with Mayor Jenny Dowell perched in one of the classic cars, an opening event at the NORPA-managed City Hall, and sold-out performances by Scottish actor-raconteur-gay activist Alan Cumming.
Another mayoral link was the conspicuous presence of Michael Gates, son of a former Lismore mayor, the late Bob Gates. Perhaps better known by his drag name of Maude Boat, the professional milliner was one of the designers of the fabulous wigs used in the film and stage production of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert. An exhibition of his costume creations was staged at Lismore Regional Gallery to coincide with the festival
Noting that the Lismore and Nimbin information centres had joined the parade, the Mayor said she would like to see other organisations getting involved, as well as a broadening of individual participants, with grandparents and children likely to love becoming involved in the fun event.
