It’s time to show your pride all week long leading up to the big Kelowna Pride March and Festival.
Last year was the first celebration since 2019 due to the pandemic. People came out in the thousands dressed to the nines to celebrate the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
“We saw close to 20,000 people last year coming and going throughout the day, so we are hoping to get that amount this year too,” said the board president of the Kelowna Pride Society, Fahmy Baharuddin.
On Saturday, June 10, anyone who would like to attend is asked to meet at Stuart Park at 10 a.m. for a land acknowledgement and speeches. Then at 11 a.m. the parade begins from Stuart Park to Kelowna City Park where there are more than 70 vendors as well as food trucks and live music, as well as a beer garden.
The Kelowna Pride Parade and March are just two of the 18 events in the next week to make sure that every member of the 2SLGBTQIA plus community is celebrated.
“We really want to focus on that as a celebration this year considering all the things happening across the border, with trans and non-binary lives. So we want to have that as a time for celebration.”
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The Trans Pride Celebration has been split into two different locations on Thursday, June 8: one at the Rotary Centre for the Arts and another at the Kelowna Art Gallery. On the same day there is a Transgender Drag Show and Social.
Baharuddin says that attending Pride events this year is more important than ever, whether you are a member of the community or an ally
“I think for a city like Kelowna where we see a lot of hateful rhetoric in the community, having your presence shown and being shown at events like this means the world for a lot of queer, trans and non-binary people because we can see the support that exists in our community,” said Baharuddin.
Friday is the official start of Kelowna’s Pride Week with a burlesque show with multiple events taking place every day leading up to the Kelowna Pride March and Festival. It all ends with a tea and dance party on Sunday.
For more information about the events visit www.kelownapride.com
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