The Royal City Pride Society is gearing up for another weekend of celebration as it gets ready to host the fourth annual Pride Week in New Westminster.
This year's event - Fifty Shades of Pride - celebrates everyone and anyone's way of life.
"Everybody lives their lives a little different, and we're just celebrating everybody," said Ian Gould, the society's sponsorship director.
Fifty Shades of Pride, a play on the popular book Fifty Shades of Grey, kicks off on Aug. 16 with the Stonewall Dance at Metro Hall on Carnarvon Street.
"It's a community-based dance. Timberline Dance is joining us. The first part of the evening they're going to give some line-dancing and two-step lessons," Gould said.
After that it's all dancing, celebrating and having fun until the wee hours. The dance runs from 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Once everyone has recovered from a night of partying, it's on to the next event; the Hills and Heels march to city hall on Saturday.
"In our Hills and Heels event, I'm encouraging people to come and wave a flag - come wave a Russian flag in support of our Russian brothers and sisters who are being oppressed and living in fear," he said of the problems arising from Russia's recent passing of its anti-gay law. "Canada is about inclusion and our Charter of Rights and Freedoms allow us to be who we are and to marry who we love, and we're blessed to live in this country to have the opportunity to not have to fear walking down the street and be oppressed."
The march starts at 12:15 p.m. at the Army & Navy on Columbia Street. Gould said people can start gathering as early as 10:30 a.m., but everyone who wants to participate should be there by noon.
"At 12:15 p.m., we'll start our march up to city hall, where the mayor will read the Pride proclamation," he said.
Mayor Wayne Wright hasn't confirmed he'll be attending, but there will be a representative from city council to open the day's events, Gould added.
After the proclamation, people can head over to Tipperary Park (next to city hall) for the Pride Festival in the Park.
"At this point I have, I believe, 35 vendors lined up," Gould said.
The festival runs until 5 p.m., and then the celebration will continue at the Met Bar and Grill from 5 to 9 p.m. "(They're) hosting a burger and beer special for 10 bucks, and we're encouraging everyone to drop in and have a relaxing time with the community," he said. "And then, at 9 p.m. that night, we are having a movie night down at Pier Park and we will be showing Mama Mia."
The movie will be a sing-along event.
Sunday wraps up the Pride events with a community brunch at the Met Bar and Grill from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. At 2 p.m., the Vancouver Men's Chorus will perform their "super popular" Big Gay Sing at the Columbia Theatre.
"That's a sing-along of a bunch of great tunes. They just did this show in Vancouver for Vancouver Pride, and it sold out. It sells out every year," Gould said. "We are so incredibly fortunate to have them."
Tickets are still available for the Stonewall Dance at Metro Hall and the Big Gay Sing. Dance tickets can be purchased online at www.themetrohall.com or by calling the Pride line at 604-544-4725. Tickets for both the dance and Big Gay Sing are also available at Red Brick on Sixth and Carnarvon streets and Coming Home Café on Sixth and Hamilton streets.
For more on the various pride events, visit www.royal citypridesociety.com and select Pride Week Events.
File Photo, The Record / Clowning around: Lollipop the clown greets some of the children at last year's Pride Week festivities in New Westminster. This year, organizers have planned a number of events, including the family-friendly Pride Festival in the Park on Saturday, from 1 to 5 p.m., at Tipperary Park.;
