Prince George is gearing up to come out and celebrate Pride together again with a free picnic event at Rainbow Park this July.
Hosted by the Prince George Queer Café, GenderOutlines, and Prince George Sexual Assault Centre, the Pride Picnic will be a family-friendly event including live music, food trucks, games and access to community resources.
“It is going to be a fun day and we are really looking forward to it,” said Laura Binette, Queer Café Chair.
“We are going to have food trucks, we are going to have games, we are going to have live music and we will also have community organizations and resources for people to connect to that are relevant for people who are queer – for anyone who need to access resources we will have those resources available.”
Queer Café hosted it’s first Pride picnic back in 2019, but the event like other Pride events over the last two years, was put on hold due to COVID-19.
The 2022 Pride Picnic is also particularly significant for the LGBTQIA2S+ community as there will be no Pride parade this year.
The Prince George Pride Society which organizes the annual Pride Parade is currently looking for new board members and because of financial restraints was not able to organize the return of the parade.
“This year there is no Pride parade, so its really sad there is no Pride parade, and people have been really crushed about that and it has been hard for a lot of us,” said Binette.
“But this is going to be the first outdoor event since the pandemic and so for us to have that kind of community connection means a lot, because we haven’t had anything like this since 2019. It is pretty huge for us to be together in this kind of way.”
Binette said she’s seen a number of communities who haven’t been able to have a parade this year but have similar picnics instead.
“It is a really family-friendly event which is lovely, and we are really excited about the music, and food trucks and games. There are also going to be crafts this year, as well as a number of community organization that pretty much everyone knows like the Makerie and Big Brothers and Big Sisters.”
Prince George Queer Café is also looking for volunteers to help make the event a success, and anyone who is interested in volunteering with the Pride Picnic is encouraged to message either the event page on Facebook or the Queer Café itself.
The event page will also be updated with a list of the musical acts, the participating food trucks, and a site map so people know where to find everything and the best places to park.
The Pride Picnic will be happening on July 10 and will go from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Rainbow Park.
