While around Victoria there were storms of biblical proportions over the weekend, in Daylesford the gods smiled on the ChillOut Parade.

A must-see event on the Daylesford social calendar, the ChillOut parade is a highly inclusive affair. A celebration of gay pride, it’s also an opportunity for local groups to beat their respective drums to raise funds or awareness.

Volunteers from the CFA, the visitor information centre, the community bank and a contingent of purple-clad women celebrating International Women’s Day (hey, that’s today…GO SISTERS!), joined in the parade.

Each year a broad cross-section of the local community, and countless visitors, turn out to witness the joyous procession of colour, movement and sound as it makes its way up Vincent Street and back down again.With rain threatening yesterday, the crowd might have been smaller but it was no less appreciative.

Some of the costumes were stunning – and rainproof! Cinderella and Prince Charming wore fabulous ensembles created from bubble-wrap, while a sylph-like dancing queen topped her elegant outfit with a head-dress decorated with plastic bottles.

The budget-conscious country cousin to the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, ChillOut has been celebrated in Daylesford since 1997 when it was organised by the Springs Connection, a gay and lesbian business group in town.

Controversy courted that and subsequent festivals, but with growing social acceptance of difference and diversity, ChillOut has steadily gained in popularity among the straight community. Since then, the Labour Day long weekend (March in Victoria) has seen the town inundated with visitors.

For children growing up in rural communities, difference can attract isolation at best, bullying at worst. In Daylesford yesterday, young people carried banners for a variety of support groups for young gay, lesbian and transgender people living in regional Victoria.

Not all of the groups’ names and acronyms were immediately apparent but I’ve since investigated some of them. For your information – and anyone you know who might find them helpful – here just a few of their links:

WAYOUT
HEADSPACE
OUT there
PFLAG Shepparton
YUMCHA
ZAQUE Ballarat

Yesterday in Daylesford – for young and old, straight and gay, and all those somewhere in between – there were rainbows everywhere.