Connection Salon: Mad Pride Festival

The Connection Salon Artists Collective presents Mad Pride Festival this summer from June 25–July 25, 2026, at the Gathering Place Community Centre. The free event features a diverse line-up of visual artists, stand-up comics, theatre actors, musicians, poets, and more, all in celebration of art-making by people who identify as living with mental illness, psychiatric disabilities, or “madness.” The festival aims to reclaim the term “mad” while celebrating neurodiversity and challenging psychiatric stigma. Programming includes an all-Indigenous Mad Arts Coffee House on June 25 featuring artists like Joseph Dandurand, Trevor Jang, and Randy Tait; an evening of Stand Up for Mental Health led by David Granirer; a double-bill film screening at the Cinematheque titled Desiring Bodies; a visual arts exhibition Gifts of Madness; and more engaging events culminating in a Mad Pride Parade and Cabaret to close out the festival. Visit connectionsalon.ca for the full festival program. Admission to all events is free.