Hamilton Pride will be in public park for first time since violence at 2019 event

For the first time since 2019, Hamilton’s Pride festival will be held in a public park.

The event hasn’t been held outdoors since it was overshadowed by an attack from violent protestors at Gage Park in June 2019. It was held virtually in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2022, the event took place inside the Hamilton Convention Centre.

This year, the chair of Pride Hamilton said there’s been an unforeseen challenge.

“Securing funding has definitely been a nightmare, for lack of a better word,” said Kiel Hughes.

According to Hughes, there were a lot of “obstacles” and “back and forth” conversations with the city during the planning process for this year’s festival, which will be held at Pier 4 Park on Sunday.

“Unfortunately, with a lot of those delays came missed deadlines and funding opportunities, on top of other organizations unfortunately running to some of our sponsors to tell them that there would be no event. So that funding was allocated elsewhere.”

It’s not clear how much funding Pride Hamilton has missed out on, but the city said it provided nearly $30,000 through the City Enrichment Fund to support what it calls “Pride Hamilton’s critical contributions to the community”.

“The City’s work with its community partners is a cornerstone of what makes Hamilton such a vibrant and inclusive community,” a city spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Global News. “If community partners have feedback on how events are planned, the City is committed to working collaboratively to ensure their feedback is heard and addressed where possible.”

Hughes said that the organization met with Ward 2 councillor Cameron Kroetsch a few months ago, and that Mayor Andrea Horwath has been “understanding”, but said there’s only so much that can be done at a council level to streamline the process that local organizations need to go through to plan an event.

“I’m well aware that there’s due process and I respect that,” said Hughes. “It’s just Hamilton needs to look at those processes as a whole and look at how they can make it easier, because to some of the members of the community, they have questioned if it’s only difficult for us or if it’s difficult for all event organizations and planners in this city.”

The federal government has helped Pride festivals across Canada this year with emergency funding that was meant for extra security in the wake of an increase in hate crimes targeting LGBTQ2 people and drag events.

Hamilton police will also be standing by on the perimeter of this weekend’s festival.

It’s a requirement for any large event held in the city, but police presence at Hamilton Pride has been the subject of scrutiny since the 2019 event.

The manner in which Hamilton police responded to the violence in Gage Park that year was the subject of an independent review, which ultimately determined their response was “inadequate” and resulted in 38 recommendations for the service.

For this year’s festival, Hughes said there have been extensive conversations with the police service and that it understands that officers are only there to protect festival-goers and not to have any involvement with the celebration itself.

“They’re there to make sure that we are safe in a city that has this much hate crime and opposition,” said Hughes. “They understand that the relationship is still very much fractured and Pride is not going to be the Band-Aid fix for this. It is going to take a lot of work on their part, and they’ve been willing to meet and share concerns and try to come up with a plan that is respectful of people’s space.”

Sgt. Rebecca Moran, the LGBTQ2 liaison officer for Hamilton police, confirmed that they have been working on an “operational plan” to help support the event and that their role will simply be to monitor the perimeter and make sure those who attend are kept safe.

“We’ve done extensive planning with Pride Hamilton. We have been preparing for months with them, and our goal is for Sunday to be a fun and safe celebration for the community,” said Moran.

Hamilton Pride will kick off at 1 p.m. in Pier 4 Park on Sunday, Aug. 27, and will go until 9 p.m.

It will include food vendors, performances from local artists, an area for youth and family, and a clothing swap for youth.

Drag queens Anastarzia Anaquway and Kimora Amour, who are competitors on this season of Amazing Race Canada and have both previously appeared on Canada’s Drag Race, will close out the show on Sunday evening.