Vancouver Pride Parade

The Vancouver Pride Parade and Festival is an annual LGBT Pride event, held each year in Vancouver, British Columbia, to celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies. It is run by the Vancouver Pride Society (VPS), a not-for-profit, volunteer-run organization that seeks to "produce inclusive, celebratory events, and advocacy for LGBTQAI2S+".[1] Vancouver's Pride Parade is the largest parade of any kind in Western Canada.

Logo adopted by the Vancouver Pride Society in 2011
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, MP Jody Wilson-Raybould and Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson at the 2018 Pride Parade

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia and the BC Provincial Health Officer order restricting mass gatherings to 50 people or less, 2020 Pride in-person events were moved online.[2][3][4] The Vancouver Pride Society has dubbed the festival #vanvirtualpride 2020 and it culminates on August 2 with a virtual parade.[5] A public art exhibition was also held with pieces from local two-spirit, trans and queer artists displayed around the city.[6]

History

Vancouver's earliest Pride celebrations began when the Gay Alliance Toward Equality (GATE) organized a picnic and art exhibit in Ceperley Park. The August 1973 edition of GATE's newspaper, Gay Tide, features coverage of "Gay Pride Week '73", and was followed shortly thereafter by the first Pride parade in 1978.[7] In 2011 some activists claimed that the actual Pride parade did not start until 1981. The parade, which covered only one side of the street while the other remained open to traffic, ran from Nelson Park to Alexandra Park via Thurlow, Pacific and Beach.[8] One of the notable founders of the Pride Parade, Barb Snelgrove was inducted into the Vancouver Queer Hall of Fame in 2013.[9][10]

The three-year theme for the 2009–2011 Pride Parade and Festival was Educate, Liberate, Celebrate.

2014 Vancouver Pride Parade

Leadership and organization

The Pride Parade and Festival is run by the Vancouver Pride Society (VPS), a not-for-profit, volunteer-run organization. The mission of the VPS is that it "strives to produce events that reflect the pride the LGBTQAI2S+ community has in itself, by strengthening the sense of community, and contributing to the vibrancy, health and overall well-being of all persons in the community."[11]

The VPS is managed by a 9-member volunteer board of directors[12] and a handful of paid staff, who handle the finances, logistics and operations of the organization and events. In addition, many hundreds of volunteers are involved in running the events. The events are funded through annual donations, corporate sponsorships, the City of Vancouver, parade entry fees, festival vendor fees, and donations collected during events.

Parade

The annual Pride parade is the largest parade in Western Canada, and one of the largest in North America. Starting at 12 noon on the day of the Pride Festival, at Robson Street and Thurlow Street, the parade heads west down Robson to Denman Street, follows Denman to Pacific and Beach Avenues and finishes at the Sunset Beach Festival site.[13]

The parade has a contingent of approximately 150 entries, including cars, floats and marching units. Among the regulars are the Vancouver Police and Fire Departments, Dykes on Bikes, PFLAG, Little Sister's Bookstore, and many of the bars and clubs from the Davie Village.[14] A regular feature of each parade is an institution of parade marshals. Often it is a person representing a country where similar events are banned and gay people are still persecuted. The grand marshal in 2010 was Nikolai Alekseev from Moscow, Russia.

In 2013, the Pride Parade was granted official civic status by the City of Vancouver.[15]

On July 21, 2020, the VPS informed the BC Liberals that they were not permitted to take part in the virtual parade due to inaction on Chilliwack-Kent MLA Laurie Throness, who has been accused of homophobic and transphobic comments and views.[16][17]

Festival and events

The Sunset Beach Festival takes place on the Sunday of the August long weekend, concurrently with the Pride parade. Located at Sunset Beach at the end of the parade route, the festival includes a diverse collection of vendors, entertainment, family activities and beer gardens.

In addition to the Pride Parade and Festival, the VPS organizes a number of events throughout the summer, including East Side Pride, held on the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Gay Day @ Playland, Movie Night, Picnic in the Park, in Stanley Park, Davie Street Pride Party, a large street party in the heart of the Davie Village, the Terry Wallace Memorial Breakfast and Pride Youth Dance in the evening after the parade and festival.[18]

References
  1. "Vancouver Pride Society". Vancouver Pride Society. July 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  2. Lalonde, Megan (May 14, 2020). "Vancouver Pride releases schedule for this summer's 'Virtual Pride'". Vancouver is Awesome. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  3. Takeuchi, Craig (April 20, 2020). "COVID-19 Canada: Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal to celebrate Pride 2020 in new ways". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  4. Pawson, Chad (April 18, 2020). "'We will not be having those big events': B.C.'s health officer says no to PNE, Pride parade". CBC News. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  5. "As Vancouver Pride Festival kicks off online, organizers find silver linings in going virtual". CBC News. July 27, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  6. Nelms, Ben (July 25, 2020). "Take a walk on the art side. Vancouver Pride Society unveils downtown art walkaround". CBC News. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  7. Kusalik, Telyn. "Vancouver Pride Society :: Vancouver-pride-history". Vancouverpride.ca. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2010-11-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Q Hall of Fame 2013 inductees include Vancouver's Barb Snelgrove". The Georgia Straight. 2013-08-02. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  10. Roar Solutions Inc. "Inductees Q Hall of Fame". Qhalloffame.ca. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  11. "Vancouver Pride Society :: About-us". Vancouverpride.ca. July 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  12. "Vancouver Pride Society- Board of Directors". Vancouver Pride Society. July 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  13. Kusalik, Telyn. "Vancouver Pride Society :: Parade-route". Vancouverpride.ca. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  14. Kusalik, Telyn. "Vancouver Pride Society :: Parade-entries". Vancouverpride.ca. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  15. Vancouver Pride parade gets civic status, Daily Xtra, May 29, 2013
  16. Smart, Amy (July 21, 2020). "Vancouver Pride Society bans B.C. Liberals from this year's virtual parade". The CBC. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  17. Fletcher, Tanya (July 15, 2020). "NDP calls for B.C. Liberal MLA to be tossed from caucus over alleged homophobia". The CBC. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  18. Kusalik, Telyn. "Vancouver Pride Society :: Event-calendar". Vancouverpride.ca. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
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