Airdrie's LGBTQ2S+ community and allies will be loud and proud as they make their way to Nose Creek Park for the annual return of the Airdrie Pride Festival on June 17.
The festival, put on by Airdrie Pride Society in collaboration with other local organizations and partners, will feature a variety of vendors, powerful performances, and a weekend worth of important conversations.
“It’s important to hold a pride festival every June because we want to remind the Airdrie community – specifically the 2SLGBTQ+ community – that they are supported and have supports,” said Taylor McPeak, a vice-president with Airdrie Pride. “We come together in solidarity and want to celebrate the fact we have rights here in Canada. We can come together every year to celebrate that and look back at everything we’ve had to do to get here.”
Airdrie's inaugural Pride Festival was held in 2019. While the local pride society's marquee event was cancelled and modified in the two years after due to COVID-19, it made a comeback in 2022 and has become a staple in Airdrie each June, which is recognized nationally as Pride Month.
“It’s a really good reminder, and of course, it’s a really positive and inspiring one as well,” McPeak said.
Same as last year, McPeak said the Saturday festival will begin with a Solidarity Walk from Airdrie City Hall to Nose Creek Park, starting at 10:30 a.m.
The event organizer highlighted that a Solidarity Walk differs from a Pride Parade in terms of what it signifies.
“Rather than do a parade, we do this walk to remember the 2SLGBTQ+ community who came before us, who sacrificed so much to get us to where we are today,” she said. “We have a walk to join together and start off, and it leads us to Nose Creek Park, where we do a flag-raising, we have some speeches there, and then the festival starts officially at noon.”
Once the festival is underway, McPeak said attendees can check out the booths set up by various organizations throughout the park, or catch one of the performances on the Nose Creek Pond amphitheatre. Performers this year include glam country artist Robert Adam from Crossfield, as well as drag performers Aida Cupcake, the Fake Moustache Troupe, Katie Windt, and Kaos, who McPeak noted appeared on Canada’s Drag Race’s third season.
According to McPeak, a new highlight of the festival will be a “Pride Dog Fashion Show” at 2:30 p.m. Supported by Airdrie Puppy Pals, the show will feature dogs adorned in rainbow-coloured costumes.
“We’re also going to do a Reading with Royalty, supported by Airdrie Public Library,” McPeak said. “So we’ve got tons of really great collaborations with Airdrie non-profits and businesses. Every year we do, but particularly this year, we’ve had a lot of great partners.”
There’s also a collaborative piece with Airdrie-based theatre troupe Nose Creek Players, who will be putting on a show called The Pink Unicorn. The one-actor play centres on the experiences of a parent whose child comes out as transgender. It will be running Friday to Sunday, with performances at the BGC Airdrie Club headquarters at the Ron Ebbesen Arena.
McPeak said the Sunday afternoon show will be followed by a panel discussion featuring parents of children who identify as gender-diverse or transgender, who will talk about their experiences and answer questions from the audience.
“They’re going to do a Q and A about the topics talked about in The Pink Unicorn, so you’ll get to hear from Airdrie residents for that,” McPeak said.
Wrapping up the proceedings on Saturday evening, an after-party will include brewery-hopping between 948 Brewing Company and Atlas Brewing Company.
For more information, visit Airdrie Pride Society on Facebook.
