Vancouver Pride Parade hopeful to return to in-person event this summer

Vancouver Pride Parade organizers are hopeful they will be able to return to an in-person event this summer.

The website states they are “cautiously planning for it to be one of the best Prides yet while adhering to the Provincial Health Guidelines and the advice from our Public Health Officers.”

The organization is now wait-listing applications for the event.

There are no longer any caps on social gatherings in the province, and if this event goes ahead, it will be the 44th Pride Parade in Vancouver.

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The 2021 event was held online with organizers streaming the parade live on Facebook, Twitch, YouTube and Telus Optic.

1:34 Pride weekend goes virtual during COVID-19 pandemic

Along with music and other performances, the 2020 virtual parade featured a segment on the history of Vancouver’s Pride Parade.

The segment followed the parade’s foundation and early fight for rights through to its unveiling of the first rainbow crosswalk in Canada in 2013 and participation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016, the first time a sitting prime minister participated in a Pride parade.

The virtual parade also touched on Vancouver Pride’s decision to exclude police from the event in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement.

In 2017, the Vancouver Pride Society told officers they could not participate in uniform or with weapons.

In 2020, all law enforcement officers were disinvited from participating as members of their organizations.