Culture

Quebec City celebrates Pride

Fête Arc-en-Ciel attracts thousands to end-of-summer rainbow party

By Ruby Pratka • September 3, 2013 2:50 pm EDT

Festival director Olivier Poulin says Fête Arc-en-Ciel is now a fixture in Quebec City. Credit: Ruby Pratka

As summer draws to a close, so does Pride season — but that’s no reason not to enjoy the last festivals.

Quebec City’s ninth annual Pride — known as Fête Arc-en-Ciel in French, literally Rainbow Party — ran from Aug 29 to Sept 2.

Organizers had hoped to improve on last year’s record of 15,000 attendees.

“With time, we’ve managed to make the Fête Arc-en-Ciel a fixture in Quebec [City]’s summer calendar,” festival director Olivier Poulin says. “We see that in the increase in attendance, as much with people from the region as with tourists.”

Check out Xtra‘s coverage on the evolution of Pride events in Canada. From Brockville to Lethbridge, smaller festivals have been popping up across the country.

More From This Contributor

Ruby Pratka is a freelance journalist based in Montreal. She filed her first stories for Xtra as a 19-year-old Carleton University undergrad, way back when the office was located on Kent St in Ottawa. Since then, she has lived, worked and studied in Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Italy and Burundi. She lived in Kelowna, Winnipeg and Quebec City before deciding on Montreal. She is a queer woman who has never cared much for gender conformity. She most enjoys reporting on immigration and refugee rights as well as housing and food security issues. Her writing has appeared in English and French in Vice Québec, HuffPost Québec, Ricochet, Shareable and the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph, among others. She enjoys cooking and choral singing.

Read More About:
Culture, News, Canada, Pride, Ottawa, Quebec

Keep Reading

Vivek Shraya being kissed by a man
Music

Vivek Shraya is hot, blond and hitting the dance floor

The Toronto multi-hyphenate’s new album, “VIVICA,” shirks respectability politics for a sensual, high-gloss exploration of queer and trans desire
Morphine Love Dion, Dawn and Morgan McMichaels
Drag Race

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 11’ plays it safe for the first bracket—until the very last minute

Already, we see the consequences of only two queens moving forward from each bracket to the semifinals
The cover of Alice Stoehr's Again, Harder. The book has black letters on a lilac background. In the middle of the cover is a red rectangle with a black line drawing of it. The drawing is of two figures entangled; they have human bodies but animal heads. The same image serves as the background behind the image of the book cover.
Books

‘Again, Harder’ captures being part of an in crowd made up of those on the outskirts

Being trans can be a vital way to connect. Author Alice Stoehr illustrates how it can also be the extent of connection
The cast of All Stars 11
Drag Race

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 11’ is a second chance for the bracket format. Will it work this time around?

Early enthusiasm for the Tournament of All Stars last season was dampened by the back half of the season, raising the question of whether this format is viable in the long term
Advertisement