15 January 2012 / Matthew Mitcham as Melbourne's Midsumma Carnival

We've already posted about sports groups present at Melbourne's Midsumma festival. Now here's a word from Gay Games Ambassador Matthew Mitcham who'll be at the opening Carnival this weekend:


Following our first outing together last year, I’m really excited that Telstra has asked me back to be part of their support of Midsumma in 2012. Telstra is a Major Partner this year and that means they have some major things going on with the Midsumma Festival, which kicks off with its annual Carnival at Birrarung Mar in Melbourne CBD, Sunday 15 January from 11am-5pm.

This year, Telstra’s support of Midsumma includes having a Carnival stall where you can meet me, check out some great phones and devices for the summer, charge your phone, get pre-paid credit and get some fun giveaways. The Telstra Citizen Reporters are also back – 30 members of Telstra’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex community, these guys and girls will be all over Midsumma, for the three weeks of Festival. They’ll be attending the wide array of Festival events, and you can check out their blogs, photos and reviews on the Midsumma tumblr site. At Carnival, the Midsumma crew will also be powered by Telstra’s really fast 4G network with wireless connectivity in the Box Office and Festival hub.

I’m very proud to once again be associated with Telstra’s support of Midsumma. It’s great to see a large corporation such as Telstra get involved on the ground with community celebrations like this. And I think it’s even better when that involvement is about a part of the community that I’m also really proud to be part of. Inclusion and diversity make a strong and cohesive community, and Midsumma is a celebration of that.

So – when you get to Carnival on Sunday, look for the Telstra stall, and come and say hi. We’ll all be there living life in full colour!