Marchers will set forth for the 20th time when the starting horn sounds for the Prince George Pride Parade on Saturday.
"We are one of the longest running pride parades outside the major centres like Vancouver and Toronto - one of the first of the smaller Canadian communities to have its own Pride Parade," said Stacey Hewlett, president of the Pride Society. "One of the best parts about it, I think, is seeing how community-based our parade is. If you go to some of the bigger ones, they are a corporate event. It's become commercialized. At our event, Prince George shows its true colours. It's awesome."
There are pockets of discrimination and there have been opponents and potholes in the road to modern times for the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, questioning) population, but the Pride Parade is the event that indicates the overall community position on equality and acceptance.
The levels are very high, said Hewlett. A highly motivated and engaged board was Hewlett's best sign of support, but there are others.
"Last year we estimated 2,200 people participating and/or watching and I'm expecting even bigger numbers this year," Hewlett said. "We have 40 floats this year, and a lot of them have never participated. The weather is going to be great, there's food, there's the festival, there is so much entertainment like belly dancing, storytime at the library with the drag queens reading for the kids, KidzArt Dayz is on at the same time and we're going to go through there and throw candy.
"The Khast'an Drummers will do a performance, Judy Russell's musical theatre performers will be there. There is so much going on. Every time we had an idea or needed some kind of help, the community stepped forward to help."
Hewlett singled out the White Goose Bistro and Party Time Rentals as particularly helpful, plus a couple of sudden new supporters who stepped in to help when their usual venue closed its doors unexpectedly.
Tonight's drag show quickly found a new home at Art Space and the event is now sold out.
The annual Saturday night dance quickly found a new home at the Black Donkey where it was turned into a street party.
Tickets are $10 for those 19-plus (available at the Pine Centre Mall branch of TD Bank or online at the Prince George Pride Street Party page on Facebook).
The festival on the lawns of city hall will happen on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to accompany the 11 a.m. parade. The festival will have family activities, food trucks, a petting zoo and many more attractions.
"I don't know why I'm amazed every year at the positive response from Prince George but I am. It feels so good to know your community is behind you," said Hewlett. "For a town known in some ways for redneckiness, this has been a very progressive place. I have always felt safe walking the streets of Prince George."
The organizers added a Thursday social night at the Westwood Pub to make the Pride Parade atmosphere another day larger this year.
