Pink Dolphin Group is building community-led Latin American, Latinx and LGBTQIA+ culture in
Melbourne, Australia.

LGBTQIA+ communities continue to navigate limited access to sustained arts funding and representation, Pink Dolphin Group, led by arts and events professional Jorge Luis Cruzado, is building long-term cultural platforms shaped by lived experience and community need.

Working across arts, music, events and storytelling, Pink Dolphin Group creates spaces where Latin American, Latinx and LGBTQIA+ communities are not only visible, but central. Rather than operating through one-off events or seasonal programming, the group focuses on ongoing cultural work that reflects the realities, creativity and joy of multicultural Australia.

Cruzado’s practice is grounded in both professional expertise and lived experience. His background spans major cultural institutions and festivals, including involvement with Midsumma Festival as a project coordinator and board observer; venue management roles for Asia TOPA (Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts); and screen-based storytelling through the short film Dance with Pride, winner of Best Documentary Short at the 2024 Melbourne Queer Film Festival. The film toured festivals across Australia, the US, and South America, screened at Federation Square, and is now available on SBS On Demand.

He is also a producer and radio presenter in the entertainment media, leading Verbena RADIO on JOY 94.9 FM. Across these contexts, his work centres identity, belonging and representation.

A defining feature of Pink Dolphin Group’s approach is its partnership with HM, a Melbourne-based brand and marketing agency embedded in the work as creative partners and committed allies. HM contributes across strategy, brand development, music and storytelling.
This collaboration has supported the development of Verbena, an Afro-Latin and Global Sounds party and cultural platform powered by movement, launching its first event as part of Australia’s first Latinx Pride Festival on 8 February 2026. HM has also led the branding of the Festival and worked closely with Cruzado to shape Pink Dolphin Group’s identity, narrative and digital foundations, while supporting new creative ventures, including an emerging beverage brand inspired by Peruvian flavours.

For Cruzado, the work is about sustainability as much as celebration.

“This work is about building cultural spaces that last, and that are shaped by the people they represent,” he says.

In a media and arts landscape where multicultural and queer stories are frequently underrepresented or short-lived, Pink Dolphin Group offers an alternative: community-led cultural production supported by long-term creative allies.

—
The Latinx Pride Festival 2026 is presented by LAHRC – the Latin American & Hispanic Rainbow Community, produced by Pink Dolphin Group, with branding and strategic communications by HM, and JOY 94.9 FM as media partner. The Festival is presented in partnership with Midsumma Festival and Latin Stories Australia, and proudly supported by the Victorian State Government.
The Festival will take place at Victoria’s Pride Street Party with Verbena on Sunday 8 February 2026, from 12pm–6pm, at the corner of Gertrude and George Streets, Fitzroy, and an Arts & Services Fair at the Victorian Pride Centre on Sunday 22 February 2026, from 10am–5pm. Free entry.

Instagram/latinxpridefestival
Instagram/verbenaaustralia

Image: Verbena 2026 poster, branding, design & production by HM.

—
Published by Nancy Bugeja, CEO, HM and editor-in-chief, Fluoro.