New route, same celebration: What to expect at the 2023 Vancouver Pride Parade
CTV
Pride celebrations will look different in Vancouver this year, with a new route planned for the festival’s biggest parade to date.
Pride celebrations will look different in Vancouver this year, with a new route planned for the festival’s biggest parade to date.
The marquee event of the city’s Pride weekend will kick off on Sunday at noon, beginning at the intersection of Davie and Denman streets. From there, between 140 and 150 floats and entries are set to travel 3.1 kilometres, down Pacific Street and along Pacific Boulevard, to the new finish line at Concord Pacific Place.
Compared to the previous route, which was 2.7 kilometres, the 2023 parade path is longer, flatter, with fewer hills and wider sidewalks.
The changes emerged from a collaboration between the non-profits Vancouver Pride Society and Live Educate Transform Society.
“We’ve been trying to figure out how to increase accessibility for folks who wouldn’t be able to attend the parade,” said Vancouver Prides Society co-chair Michelle Fortin during an interview with CTV Morning Live on Thursday. “(LETS) let us know that the reality is we needed wider sidewalks, more viewing areas and an opportunity for people to have some shade,” explained Fortin.
Three accessible viewing zones will be set up Sunday, including one above the English Bay Bathhouse where wearing a face mask is mandatory. Seniors are invited to watch the parade from Yaletown’s Roundhouse Community Centre and people who require VocalEye and ASL interpretation can enjoy the show from a zone outside of BC Place on Pacific Boulevard.
Road closures on Sunday will impact parts of Denman and Davie streets, the stretch of Beach Avenue from Denman to Jervis streets as well as Pacific Avenue between Jervis and Carral streets. The traffic disruptions will begin as early as 5 a.m. Sunday and end by 4 p.m.
