The Victorian Pride Centre’s soaring atrium pulsed with colour, conversation and clinking glasses on Friday 8 May 2026, as community leaders, donors and friends gathered in St Kilda for the second annual Pride Circle fundraising evening – an intimate, invitation-only night designed to help power the next chapter of Victoria’s LGBTQIA+ storytelling.
Located at 79–81 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, the Victorian Pride Centre is Australia’s first purpose-built centre for LGBTIQA+ communities, housing organisations, archives, social spaces and events under one gleaming, architecturally striking roof. Since opening, it has become both a practical hub for services and a symbolic home where community history, creativity and advocacy are preserved and celebrated.
This year’s Pride Circle evening focused on a very tangible goal: upgrading the Pride Centre’s capacity to host professional-standard events, performances and community gatherings. On every table, guests found a ‘Giving Guide’ booklet outlining specific fundraising targets for items including a professional DJ workstation, mixing console, DJ controller and roadcase, as well as lighting and stands to transform the Centre into a truly state-of-the-art performance space.
The message was clear: every contribution on the night helps the Pride Centre better serve artists, community groups and event organisers, ensuring that future gatherings sound and look as polished as any commercial venue. With catering provided and complimentary bubbles flowing early in the evening, guests were gently – and cheerfully – encouraged to loosen their purse strings in support of the cause.
A centrepiece of the fundraising effort was a high-end raffle, with tickets set at $50 each or $150 for four – a price point that signalled both the seriousness of the fundraising goal and the calibre of the prizes on offer. Thanking a long list of generous prize donors, organisers unveiled a haul that drew enthusiastic interest from theatre buffs, beauty lovers and wellness seekers alike.
On the prize table were tickets to local theatre productions and movie sessions, a Mecca gift pack featuring NYX cosmetics, Wella haircare and a pair of Crocs, along with a coveted health and wellness package including gym memberships, massage, sauna and spa experiences. For those with more classic tastes, there were gifts such as premium tea from T2 and a bottle of Penfolds Bin 707, one of Australia’s most prestigious wines, ensuring the raffle appealed to a broad cross-section of guests.
Guiding proceedings with trademark poise and irreverence was the incomparable Art Simone, Melbourne’s favourite drag queen and runner-up on the inaugural season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under. A seasoned performer, author and advocate with more than a decade on stage, Art brought warmth, quick wit and a healthy dose of glamour to the room, coaxing bids, selling raffle tickets and keeping the program moving with effortless charm and wit.
Sharing the spotlight was Umbra Moon, a rising Melbourne artist whose performances blend dark, lush pop with soaring vocals and the lyrical voice of the violin. Over the past two years Umbra has developed a loyal following for her deeply personal songwriting and her gift for forging an emotional connection with audiences, and last night was no exception as she quickly emerged as a crowd favourite. Her set added a moody, modern edge to the evening, perfectly matching the Centre’s mix of history and forward-looking energy.
Among the VIPs in attendance was Lord Murray Schoorman of Peak Hour Images, a long-time supporter of community events and a proud Club 500 and Cornerstone supporter of the VPC, who was on hand to document the evening. His photographs of the performances will join the Victorian Pride Centre’s growing visual archive, preserving the spirit of a night built on generosity, inclusion and shared purpose.
As the final raffle tickets were drawn and the last glasses of bubbly were raised, there was a clear sense that this second annual Pride Circle fundraiser had not only met its brief, but helped set the stage – quite literally – for a louder, brighter and more connected future at the Victorian Pride Centre.
