Kingston celebrates first in-person Pride parade since pandemic began
Global News
Sunday marked Kingston's 32nd annual Pride parade, back in-person for the first time since 2019. The event saw hundreds of Kingstonians take to Confederation Park to celebrate.
Kingston Pride celebrated the 32nd annual Pride parade on Sunday and was met with great weather for the occasion.
“The sun is shining on Pride, as it always does. It shone on the parade and it’s been fantastic,” says Festival Director Ted Robinson.
The theme for this year’s Pride parade was “Together Again.” That’s because it’s been over two years since the festivities were held in-person.
“There’s lots of people for whom COVID-19 has been an extremely difficult time with isolation, you know,” says Robinson. “We as a community rely on each other tremendously. So being able to be here and share what’s been happening for each of us in the last 18 months is fantastic.”
While Pride is traditionally celebrated in June, organizers moved the festival to September in hopes of bringing people together safely.
The events at Confederation Park required all attendees to show proof of full vaccination status and safety protocols were in place.
“People are grateful to be here, they’re grateful to be out and about, they’re grateful that we’ve put all of the safety protocols in place that we need to,” says Robinson.
Kingston Pride Chair Ian Burns says Kingston has shown great support for the Queer community.