The Rainbow on the Plains Festival is a celebration of inclusions and diversity held annual in Hay. The Pride festival committee won the 2024 Hay Business Award for local business champion, and organisers Jade Auldist, Will Miller and Brett Boulton were on hand to collect it.

Iconic Australian rock band Rouge Traders has been secured to headline the Friday night concert at the 2023 Rainbow on the Plains Festival, scheduled for November.

Hay’s Rainbow on the Plains Festival now holds the national record for the biggest human rainbow, after snatching the record from the Victorian town of Daylesford. Image: Brett Naseby

Dating app Tinder has announced that the Big Rainbow Project winner is the community of Daylesford, home of the ChillOut Festival.

Hay was reported runner-up in the competition, which saw more than 16,000 votes cast from across Australia to decide the location of the colourful arc.

Back in March, dating app creator Tinder announced that it would be unveiling their ‘Big Rainbow’, in a regional town, somewhere in Australia, and Hay is in the top four.

After Covid-19 forced the cancellation of Mr Gay Pride Australia 2020 and 2021, the competition will be returning in 2022, joining forces with the Rainbow on the Plains Festival in Hay where the finale will be hosted in November.