Saskatoon Pride evolves, grows and hits new heights

Largest Pride event yet, say organizers

Saskatoon wrapped up another successful Pride week on Jun 13 with the city’s largest Pride parade ever. Over 1,000 people marched through downtown Saskatoon on one of the first sunny weekends of the year. The parade ended at City Hall square where 3,000 people enjoyed the entertainment, the beer garden and community group info booths.

This year’s Pride theme was Pride Evolution, and the week kicked off on Jun 7 with a service at the Unitarian Church followed by the Family Day in the Park. The next day a news conference and flag raising were held at City Hall. Other events throughout the week included pub crawls, a block party, a Chicks with Sticks street hockey game, a gay coffee shop meetup, art exhibits, paintball, a sing-along movie night and the Gayest Bingo Ever. The week ended with a giant dance and an after-hours event at Diva’s, Saskatoon lone queer club.

Saskatoon Diversity Network co-chair Kelly Ries says the week was the largest and most successful Pride week yet. “Attendance was on par with events of last year with a few new events added this year,” says Ries. According to Ries approximately 7,000 people attended the various events throughout the week.

Text and photo by Gens Hellquist.

Read More About:
Culture, News, Pride, Canada

Keep Reading

Josh Silver

‘Fruit Fly’ author Josh Silver has a sweet tooth—and the summer’s buzziest book

The English writer talks the duality of social media, how nursing helped his draft—and the cost of massive success

How ‘North of North’ is introducing Indigenous queer dramedy to a global stage

Actors Anna Lambe and Zorga Qaunaq on learning about forgiveness and queerness through their award-winning show
Barbara Hammer

Barbara Hammer’s endless influence

The lesbian filmmaker made a radical difference by making work that reflected her real life. A new documentary is cementing her legacy
Collage with two hands holding a bat, swinging towards a baseball with a dollar sign on it, against a blue background with a net, baseball player and the Olivia logo on an outfield sign

Why the WPBL partnering with a lesbian travel company matters

Support from lesbian brands and bars harks back to the queer history of women’s sport leagues
Advertisement