New West is set to shine with Pride from Saturday, August 6 to Saturday, August 13 as the city celebrates the LGBTQ+ community and its allies with an entire week of community festivities, capped off with a full scale street party on Columbia Street.
Pride week will see 24 community-run events, as all come together to make this New West’s biggest and most inclusive week yet.
A few Pride week highlights include the annual senior gay/straight alliance ho-down, a family picnic with an outdoor screening of the film Labyrinth at Pier Park, a women’s only pole dancing party and an afternoon patio party at The Terminal Pub complete with DJ and two specialty Pride beers on tap created by local favourite, Steel & Oak.
The New West Pride Columbia Street Party on Saturday, August 13 is a relaxed, fun day for all ages, with an emphasis on community. This year’s party is expected to be Pride’s biggest one yet, drawing an expected 40,000 and making use of three stages. The free party runs from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and includes a children’s area, booths and vendors, five outdoor pubs, a Drag Show stage. multiple food trucks with shaded eating areas.
New this year is an All! Choir! Stage starring LGBTQ+ and local choral groups including the Rainbow Concert Band, Vandeca, The Drag Show Choir, The Lions Gate Chorus and Quayside Voices. At 6:15 p.m., the choir stage will lead the festival in a group sing of the song True Colors, a tribute to the memory of the victims of the June Orlando shootings at a gay nightclub in Florida.
Hosted by New West Queer FM radio host and trans advocate Jazmine Khan, party-goers will take in performances on the Canawrap Main Stage. The line-up includes award-winning violinist and DJ Michael Fraser, Vancouver-based rapper-poet-singer-songwriter K!mmortal and New West drag queen extraordinaire Miz Adrien.
A headline performance by the Vancouver-based, seven-member indie pop and electro group Top less Gay Love Tekno Party is guaranteed to get the crowd moving.
For further information and a full calendar of events visits www.newwestpride.ca.
