New Zealand's new Prime Minister has attended his first Big Gay Out - but made a much quieter appearance than his predecessor.

Bill English arrived at Coyle Park in Pt Chevalier this afternoon for the event which celebrates the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender communities.

He was dressed in a light blue casual shirt - in contrast to John Key's bright pink number last February.

He spent about half an hour taking selfies with the crowd, and visiting stands including one for a HIV drug prep, before doing a media stand-up to answer questions on issues from today.

But he didn't follow in Key's footsteps with the obligatory photo with a drag queen.

And he stayed clear of the stage, unlike Key who appeared to cut short his speech at last year's event as he was drowned out by a group of about 30 protesters yelling anti-TPP slogans.

Pink glitter was also thrown at Key.

English was today flanked by several National MPs, including Paula Bennett, Nikki Kaye, Alfred Ngaro, Paul Goldsmith, Amy Adams and Paul Foster Bell.

Earlier, English had attended the Botany Summer BBQ.

And yesterday, he was promoting the world sheep shearing championships with Sir David Fagan in Invercargill.

The sun shined at Coyle Park after dark clouds threatened to spoil the day.

Dozens of stalls offered food and clothing and a number of political parties had set up shop.

Labour leader Andrew Little was also at the event and questioned on stage by infomercial queen Suzanne Paul.

Little said Labour backed the New Zealand AIDS Foundation's campaign to end HIV in New Zealand.

He congratulated the Government on the expunging of convictions related to homosexuality.

"When the Crown historically gets it wrong . . . it shouldn't be above us to say we got it wrong and say sorry.

"Labour has always been there for the gay community," he said.

He was joined on stage by a number of Labour Party MPs, including Louisa Wall and Jacinda Ardern.

ACT leader David Seymour was also in attendance, as was Auckland mayor Phil Goff who posed for photos with those present, joined by councillors Cathy Casey and Richard Hills.

Green Party leader James Shaw was also at the vent. He said his party had a "pretty clear track record" of standing with the LGBT community.

He also said the Greens were committed to eradicating HIV from New Zealand by 2025.

"There's a tonne of work that still needs to happen for this community, particularly in public health."