Warragul Leisure Centre will be brimming with activities and roller derby this Saturday for the fifth annual Gippsland Ranges Roller Derby Pride Cup.
Run in collaboration with Gippsland Pride Initiative, the Pride Cup will have plenty of action between 9am and 4pm on Saturday, with a mix of roller derby events and a range of activities and stalls for attendees to enjoy.
Gippsland Ranges Roller Derby president Sarah Lawless said the event was a celebration of diversity, equality, and inclusion in the roller derby community and beyond.
"It's very much a celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community, in particular, a celebration of trans and gender diverse people's involvement in sport and a bit of a showcase of their awesome skills and abilities," she said.
This year's Pride Cup will have even more on offer than years gone by thanks to funding from Victoria's Pride Regional Activation Program. Sarah said funding enabled the Pride Cup to host more arts focused activities and stall holders.
"We really try our best to be more than just a roller derby club," Sarah explained. "We are involved in a lot of things outside of the roller derby context because we see ourselves as not just a roller derby club but a safe space for people to come and be their authentic self in whatever way they can.
"As awesome as roller derby is, it's not everyone's cup of tea and that's fine. We're trying to do extra things to add value to that."
Local photographer Lauren Murphy will run a portrait studio at the event called "The Pride in Us"
"People will be able to have their photo taken, write a few words about what pride means to them and then that will be created into posters with a customized font," Sarah explained."There'll also be a flower crown making workshop so people can make themselves look really colorful and beautiful before they get their photo taken."
The posters will be shared online and printed onto thin paper that can be glued onto walls.
"They'll be spread across the state in a bit of a pride themed glue up event as part of Midsumma in January next year," Sarah said.
Other exciting features of the day include a circus workshop where attendees can learn circus skills, a gender affirming clothes swap organised by the Gippsland Pride Initiative and stalls run by support organisations where attendees can learn about the different supports available to the LGBTQIA+ community.
There will be a wide variety of kids' activities on offer as well including badge making and temporary tattoos and plenty of free stickers.
"It's a really great day!" Sarah said.
Gippsland Ranges Roller Derby will again take on The Gender Ending Story in a thrilling exhibition match, scheduled for 2pm.
Being held in November, the Pride Cup coincides with Trans Awareness Month.
"We do (the event) at the start of the month so that support services and organisations that are running events during the month can also use (the Pride Cup) as a platform to share what they've got happening so that people are aware of that as well," Sarah said.
The roller derby event schedule is as follows:
9am - junior low contact
10am - junior modified contact
11am - adult modified contact
1pm - formalities
2pm - exhibition bout
4pm - presentations
Entry is $5 at the door, with kids under 14 going free. Doors will open at 8am.
A livestream will be available via the Gippsland Ranges Roller Derby Facebook page.