How you can celebrate Pride in Winnipeg this weekend

Winnipeggers will be coming together this weekend for the Pride Winnipeg Festival, which will bring entertainment, artisans and the annual Pride Parade to the city.

Throughout the weekend, events will take place on three different stages at The Forks, including the new community stage.

“On the community stage you will see programming on Saturday by our Indigenous partners Two Spirit Manitoba,” said Pride Winnipeg president Barry Karlenzig in an interview on Friday.

“On Sunday we have programming from QPOC Winnipeg.”

At the main stage, there will be beer gardens, local talent, drag queens and more. The festival will also offer a kids’ zone for those who are looking for some family fun.

“We have some face painting there, we have some live music, Al Simmons will be there. Then we’ll have the Blue Bombers set up some of their inflatables, so it’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Amanda Pratt, Pride Winnipeg’s vice president of programming.

Karlenzig said the festival will feature a new an improved PrideMART with a number of local artisans featuring their work, including clothing, jewelry and pottery. He added there will also be an expanded PrideMART Job Fair, which will include a dozen businesses.

“We have 12 businesses here this year doing a job fair to really show they are supportive of the queer community and they hire within the community, which is great to see,” Karlenzig said.

The Pride Winnipeg Festival begins at noon on both Saturday and Sunday at The Forks. A rally is taking place at the Manitoba Legislative Building at 10 a.m. on Sunday followed by the parade at 11 a.m. at Memorial Park.

“[The parade] is a lot of fun,” Pratt said.

“This year we have a record amount of parade entries, so over 150, which is crazy for us.”

SCO CELEBRATING PRIDE

In a statement, the Southern Chiefs’ Organization said it’s proud to celebrate during Pride Month.

“The Southern Chiefs’ Organization honours our two spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual and gender-diverse relatives, today and every day,” said Grand Chief Jerry Daniels.

“It is essential to continue to advocate for all our peoples, especially as we hear of stolen Pride flags at schools and calls for a ban of certain books featuring 2SLGBTQQIA+ content from school libraries here in Manitoba.”

This year, the SCO will have a presence at the Pride Parade and take an active role in festivities. The organization noted it has raised the inclusivity flags at its Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn project, which is the former downtown Hudson’s Bay building.

“We support all relations who are fighting to be accepted for who they are. Homophobia and transphobia are colonial legacies in Canada,” Daniels said.

“We recognize and respect two spirit and LGBTQQIA+ peoples. SCO is committed to creating an environment of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health for our 2SLGBTQQIA+ community. All of us deserve to feel celebrated and to be able to enjoy full, free, and open lives.”

More information on Pride Winnipeg can be found online. https://pridewinnipeg.com/

- With files from CTV’s Ainsley McPhail.