With a slate of family-friendly activities planned to celebrate the community’s diversity, Chatham-Kent Pride organizers are getting ready to make a big, colorful splash this month.
With a slate of family-friendly activities planned to celebrate the community’s diversity, Chatham-Kent Pride organizers are getting ready to make a big, colorful splash this month.
Pride week is set for Aug. 15 to Aug. 21, and will be celebrated in person, complete with a parade in downtown Chatham, as well as a festival in Tecumseh Park.
Marianne Willson, president of the Chatham-Kent Gay Pride Association, expects it will be worth the wait for everyone involved.
“We’re thrilled to be doing stuff in-person again,” she said Monday. “I’m sure every organization is.”
During the pandemic, CK Pride has held virtual events while occasionally hosting outdoor activities where people could physically distance.
The Pride parade will take place Saturday, Aug. 20, starting at 11 am from the Chatham-Kent Civic Centre, down King Street West to Tecumseh Park.
From noon until 5 pm that day, there will be the Pride festival in the park. Vendors, community partners and organizations are encouraged to register for a display or vendor space for this event.
“There’s been an outpouring of people wanting to do activities there,” Willson said. “We’ve got lots of things going on in the park this year, probably more than we’ve had in the other years. That’s all very exciting.”
This includes a DJ and a drag show, along with water activities, games and a foam machine.
On Friday, Aug. 19, there will be a pub night at Sons of Kent.
“That is something we haven’t done in the past,” Willson said, “so we thought we’d give that a try.”
She added that business sponsors have been stepping up in a big way for the event.
As for society’s attitudes in general towards Pride, Willson said there is always more work to do but she’s still impressed with the evolution in recent years.
“Certainly there’s an undercurrent of negativity that boils up from below our country, sometimes into this community,” she said. “But I think for the most part, Chatham-Kent has come a long, long way, and we are growing to be a welcoming-of-all-people kind of community, diverse and inclusive.”
She credited the municipality’s support, including through the creation of a diversity, equity and inclusion co-ordinator position, adding that other organizations are also moving in a similar direction.
Willson said this goes “hand-in-hand” with the Pride philosophy.
“CK Pride is all about us being one community. It’s never been a ‘them versus us,’” she said. “It’s always been our drive and our vision and our mission to bring our entire community together.
“We’ve just been blessed with such great community allies, supporters and donors … It’s been really heartwarming, uplifting, exciting and I can’t wait to see what happens next.”
Anyone seeking further information, or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities or vendor space, can contact [email protected].