By now, it probably won’t have escaped you that this fortnight two of the community’s biggest events fall on the same weekend. To kick off, the (not-so-anonymous) Sharkbait and his merry band of nautical men take advantage of the quickly waning October sun and give us the 4th annual gay party on the sea, Floatilla 2009. Founder of the event Greg Crandall is keeping schtum about the destination until the last minute, as usual, but here’s what you need to know now:

Having registered the vessel on floatillahk.com and split the docking fee between the party, each boat goes out under its own power. So gather your entourage (friends, social groups, book clubs, uni cliques, etc.) and enough food and drinks to keep everyone happy for seven hours or so. If you can, theme out your craft and bring sound systems, DJs, and whatever else you need for a fabulous day on the water. New to town or not part of a big enough group? ‘Strays’ will be assigned to boats with enough space to take them.  Most will leave from Central’s Pier 9 around 11am (though if you’re smart, you’ll get creative), and head for a specific bay where the fleet congregates.

“What happens from there is pretty much organic,” Crandall says, drawing on past experience, “Basically, if you’ve got eight boats, you’ve got eight parties, and maybe one on the beach. The beauty of the [event] is that people make their own fun with it.”

On Sunday, celebrations break onto the streets when the Hong Kong Pride Parade starts its course from Wan Chai’s Southorn Playground at 2.30pm. This year’s theme – Be Proud! Be Yourself – sounds a clarion call to the city’s LGBT folk to beat last year’s 1,000-strong march. The entire parade will be pink this time around, so don your brightest fuschia, rose, and (preferably not) salmon apparel for the walk along Hennessy Road to Chater Garden in Central. After-party options range from an official post-parade show, which boasts guest performances from Brian Leung and the DJs from We Are Family on RTHK 2, Macanese boy band Soler, and Cantopop girl Takki Wong, to tea dances from the guys at Cocktail (venue still TBC at time of press) and at Tivo, both in Central.

What’s special this year, Crandall points out, is precisely the coincidence of both weekend events. “Saturday is really about all of us as a community – to [experience its] joy and diversity amongst ourselves. And then Sunday is more public. So, there’s an introverted part and an extroverted part.”

However it ends, a full two days of celebration and unity await.

Samantha Leese