The organizers of New West Pride Week had hoped the week-long celebration would be well-attended – but we’re not sure they had any idea just how many people would join in on the fun.
Nearly 25,000 people showed up to the New West Pride street party – just about double the number of people who took part in 2014, and that was only one day. Overall, turnout for all the Pride Week events was stellar, according to the group.
But what made it such a success? What helped transform it from a wee festival at Tipperary Park to the week-long festival we know today? We’re going to go out on a limb here and say it probably had something to do with the rock star team working behind the scenes.
Led by Pride president Jeremy Perry, the local society kicked off 2015 in true New Year fashion, introducing a new logo and name – the New West Pride Society.
“We are building a Pride festival that will be known throughout the Lower Mainland and Canada and that means formally changing our name to make it more recognizable,” Perry said at the time.
And boy, he wasn’t kidding.
About one month after announcing its rebranding, the group applied to city council to expand the area available for the street party from between Fourth and Sixth streets to Fourth and Eighth streets. While one could argue the proposal was a gamble for the society, now organizing its sixth Pride week, Perry was adamant this was the right direction for the event.
And council seemed to agree; they approved the request.
Things really started to snowball from there. Groups from around the city started to jump on the Pride bandwagon. In June, Century House, the municipally run seniors’ centre, announced it would host an all-ages hoedown as part of Pride Week celebrations. Shortly after that, Pride organizers announced that Vancouver punk rocker Bif Naked would headline the street party.
And then, about two weeks before the kick-off of Pride Week, the City of New Westminster surprised everyone when it unveiled a freshly painted rainbow-crosswalk in front of Heritage Grill on Columbia Street.
“New Westminster is an incredibly inclusive community. We do a lot to really deal with marginalized individuals. That’s the type of city we want to be and be known for,” Mayor Jonathan Cote said at the time.
Perry was overwhelmed by the gesture.
“It’s incredible to live in a community that has this much support for the Pride movement, and seeing them want to have such a visual piece in the city to say that they promote inclusivity and diversity, is just a great thing to be part of,” Perry told the Record.
Pride Week officially began Aug. 8, but it really felt like this year it was about more than just one week of festivities. The excitement was palpable in the months leading up to the event, and we here at the Record were truly impressed by the amazing work done by the Pride society – they are just plain awesome, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with for 2016.
