New Brunswick Announces virtual Pride for 2020
Fredericton • 2020-05-28
River of Pride, Fierté Fredericton Pride and Saint John Pride have joined forces to celebrate diversity province-wide amid the COVID- 19 pandemic. The 2020 Pride Festival will be offered virtually and is open to anyone who wants to join the celebration online. The three organizations joined forces when restrictions were placed on large public gatherings and they quickly agreed the celebration must go on.
The festival will take place from July 10th to July 18th and this year’s theme is ‘’Bloom’’. The theme symbolizes a way to honour each individual’s rights to bloom into their full potential, embracing every petal of their identity. The tri-city organizing committee will shine a positive light on the inclusivity of New Brunswick through this initiative.
All of the popular activities that usually take place during Pride Week will be part of the program, only this time with an online approach.
‘’We all really wanted to have Pride Week even if it isn’t going to be in the format we are used to. Doing it virtually means that we will not charge any covers to attend, and it is our hope that participation levels exceed last year’s numbers’’ said Dylan Mahaney, President of River of Pride.
The full program of the festival boasts 20 events broadcast online to allow everyone to participate safely from the comfort of their home.
‘’Fierté Fredericton Pride believes collaboration is an essential element of community-building. We are excited that the move to a virtual festival provides valuable opportunities to highlight the resilience and diversity of our communities and connect individuals across our beautiful province. We look forward to the conversations that will grow from Pride NB, instigating a move toward greater accessibility and inclusion in future years,” said Amelia Thorpe from Fierté Fredericton Pride.
All three municipal Pride organizations have shared the program and other important details about the festival on their respective social media accounts.
Michael Cummings of Saint John Pride commented, “Saint John Pride is excited for the opportunity to partner with other Pride organizations in the province to help New Brunswick
come together during the Covid-19 pandemic. I am also looking forward to sharing our best practices among our organizations to make future Pride festivals even better,” added Cummings.
BrainWorks Marketing, an award-winning marketing and creative agency based in Moncton, is the presenting sponsor of the 2020 virtual festival. Brad LeBlanc, President, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity: ‘’It is such a natural fit for us to partner with not one but three Pride organizations for the first ever Provincial Pride Week here in New Brunswick. It was a decision that was made by the entire team and I think the entire decision-making process took less than a day for us to jump on board to support. We hope other NB companies and organizations will do the same if they are in a position to do so. We are fierce advocates for equality, inclusion and diversity. Those values not only shape us as a team but they also influence the work we do and the relationships we build with clients and suppliers. Our goal has always been to make the world a better place from right here in Atlantic Canada, this is simply another step in that direction. We congratulate and celebrate all involved and are so excited to celebrate and support the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities across our incredible province.”
The Pride NB organizers are actively seeking other sponsors to help with the costs of running this celebration of equity, diversity, and inclusion.
About River of Pride
In the 1990s, people for the community started organizing, which resulted in the Moncton chapter for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) being established in 1995. Monctons’ gay bar on St-George street, Triangles Bar & Club, also opened that year. In 1999, Greg Daborn and Art Vautour-Toole found a solution to their frustrations in having to travel far (ie: Halifax, Montreal, Toronto) to celebrate Pride Week. They organized with Denis Lanteigne Moncton’s first Pride weekend in June 2000. The first Moncton Pride Parade Marshal was Eldon Hay, an activist and father supportive of his gay son, Ron Hay. Throughout the years, many other people from the Moncton’s LGBTQ+ community joined the organizing of Pride Week celebrations and of other initiatives. In 2009, River of Pride was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization. Now, 20 years later, we have grown significantly in size and in mandate, in hopes of organizing and mobilizing for LGBTQ+ peoples’ well being.
About Fredericton Pride
Fierté Fredericton Pride strives to promote inclusion and intersectionality in celebrating and advocating for 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and communities. We seek to support and empower sexual and gender minority communities while promoting visibility, collaboration, education, and diversity. Our mandate is to organize and promote events and programs that facilitate 2SLGBTQIA+ community-building, knowledge-sharing, and intergenerational connectivity. Fierté Fredericton Pride is committed to cultivating a culture of growth, equality, respect, and transparency.
About Saint John Pride
The mission of Saint John Pride is to plan and execute Pride Celebrations in a manner which celebrates and reflects the LGBTQ+ community while being fiscally responsible, supportive, encouraging and welcoming of members from the community and its allies. Since 2003 Saint John Pride has been providing events for LGBTQ+ people & their allies in Canada's oldest incorporated city, Saint John, NB. During the Pride Week celebrations, they offer events that target residents and visitors of all ages with a focus on inclusion, diversity & acceptance.
