'A long two years': Pride returns with in-person festival after pandemic hiatus
After a pandemic hiatus, Pride Winnipeg's in-person festival is back and for many in the community it is a chance to once again get together and celebrate.
On Saturday, festival goers headed to the Fierté Canada Pride Festival at The Forks and Parks Canada grounds.
"It's been a long two years without it and Pride is full and glamorous this year," Dawn Hillstrom, who was among those celebrating on Saturday.
For Hillstrom, this year's festival seems bigger and better than past Pride celebrations.
"People are feeling more proud and safe to come out and enjoy it within our society. It's just – it's spectacular."
Ryan was also at the Pride festival Saturday – the first one they have attended.
"I'd say it's pretty important because it's showing how people in the LGBTQ community are being supported, and how far everything has come," Ryan said.
Josh Coates-Ritchie, who attended the festival with his dads Geret Coates and Robb Ritchie, said it was great to be back celebrating.
"I love it. It's so much fun to get to hang out with family, get to where all my cool pride gears," Coates-Ritchie said.
"(It's) really important to come together as a community to celebrate inclusion and belonging and just to take this opportunity to be reminded of our responsibilities year round to champion inclusivity across our city," Robb Ritchie said.
The annual Pride rally and parade is set to happen Sunday morning, with the rally beginning at 10 a.m. at the Manitoba Legislature. The parade will then head through downtown beginning at the corner of Memorial Boulevard and Portage.
More details about this year's pride events can be found online.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canadian family stuck in Lebanon anxiously awaits flight options amid Israeli strikes
A Canadian man who is trapped in Lebanon with his family says they are anxiously waiting for seats on a flight out of the country, as a barrage of Israeli airstrikes continues.
Yazidi woman captured by ISIS rescued in Gaza after more than a decade in captivity
A 21-year-old Yazidi woman has been rescued from Gaza where she had been held captive by Hamas for years after being trafficked by ISIS.
Scientists looked at images from space to see how fast Antarctica is turning green. Here's what they found
Parts of icy Antarctica are turning green with plant life at an alarming rate as the region is gripped by extreme heat events, according to new research, sparking concerns about the changing landscape on this vast continent.
Suspect in shooting of Toronto cop was out on bail
A 21-year-old man who was charged with attempted murder in the shooting of a Toronto police officer this week was out on bail at the time of the alleged offence, court documents obtained by CTV News Toronto show.
A 6-year-old girl was kidnapped in Arkansas in 1995. Almost 30 years later, a suspect was identified
Nearly 30 years after a six-year-old girl disappeared in Western Arkansas, authorities have identified a suspect in her abduction through DNA evidence.
A Michigan man is charged with killing and dismembering a janitor he met on the Grindr dating app
Prosecutors have charged a Michigan man with killing and dismembering a janitor he met on the dating app Grindr.
NEW Youth pleads guilty to manslaughter in death of P.E.I. teen Tyson MacDonald
A teen charged with the murder of another teen on Prince Edward Island last year has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter.
Haitian gang kills at least 70 people, including 3 infants, UN says
Armed men belonging to the Gran Grif gang killed at least 70 people, including three infants, as they swept through a Haitian town shooting automatic rifles at residents, a spokesperson for the United Nations' Human Rights Office said on Friday.
DEVELOPING 2 dead after fire rips through historic building in Old Montreal
At least two people are dead and others are injured after a fire ripped through a century-old building near Montreal's City Hall, sources told Noovo Info.