THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay’s 2022 pride celebrations won’t include a parade, but will boast a busy lineup of in-person and virtual events rivalling the ambition of pre-pandemic years.
The month-long slate of programming was announced jointly by Thunder Pride and the Rainbow Collective of Thunder Bay on Tuesday at the Good and Co. Market, which will serve as an anchor for several of the larger events.
Organizers called it an exciting chance to reunite the community in person after a difficult two-year period.
“Being able to be [together] I think is the most exciting thing,” said Valentina Donoso, the newly elected chair of Thunder Pride. “To be able to have pride month, seeing faces not screens.”
Pride month will kick off on June 4 with an opening drum circle at the spirit gardens and a pre-pride party at the Red Lion Smoke House, and conclude on June 30 with a spiritual healing night
In between, over a dozen events will be on offer, including a “back to the ‘90s” kickoff party at the Goods and Co. Market, story time with drag queens at the public library, a pride pool party, an in person and virtual games night, a unicorn glitter ball, and more.
It’s an ambitious itinerary in a year in which some organizations are still scaling back or cancelling plans, but Jason Veltri said organizing the pride parade proved too much.
“Both organizations just don’t have the capacity right now to plan it and put it on, and there’s a whole host of restrictions and plans we would have to put in place with the city and the health unit,” he said. “In the future, it will likely return in some form.”
A street festival on June 18, held on Red River Road between Court and Cumberland, will offer a chance for the community to come together, however, he noted.
The partnership between the two organizations will help stretch resources and maximize engagement, said Donoso and Veltri.
“This is a start of I hope a really fruitful relationship with our sister organization in the community, so that we can spread out the work and really tackle the important issues that are still affecting queer, trans, and two-spirit people in our community and in Northwestern Ontario,” said Veltri.
