The festival - which celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community and promotes inclusion - started on Friday and will run through to March 28.

The program features events including the Heart VR performance, a mine tour, and stage shows.

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One of those events was the Faith and Pride: Religion and Homosexuality panel discussion, which was held on Sunday at the Engine Room on View Street.

Father Noel Richards from the Anglican Church and Nur Warsame - Australia's first openly gay imam and founder of Marhaba, a Muslim LGBTQIA+ social support group - spoke at the event.

Father Noel said it was important to have discussions about how religion and sexuality could exist side-by-side.

"So many people carry these horrible burdens that have been inflected upon them by religion," he said.

"Anything that can be done to increase self-love, love of others, and for me, the love of God, is really important."

Father Noel only realised he was gay when he entered his 60s. He married his partner Drew at St Andrew's Uniting Church in October 2019 - the first same-sex marriage in a church in Bendigo.

"It's been hidden for so long, the whole thing about sexuality and religion," Father Noel said.

"Not realising until late in my life that I was gay, I've realised how important it is for people to know who they are as soon as possible. It's essential in being the full person you're meant to be."

Read more: 2021 Bendigo PRIDE Festival program released amid coronavirus restrictions

While the 2020 Bendigo PRIDE Festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Father Noel said it was nice to see people coming together for this year's events.

"I went to my first PRIDE party on the opening night," he said. "Parts of it blew my mind. But the thing that was most amazing was how normal it was, the normality of the whole thing.

"I expected everyone to be in the most unbelievable costumes or dressed up for a cocktail party, but it was just so normal. It was so good."

More information about the Bendigo PRIDE Festival can be found at bendigopridefestival.com.au/events/

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