Pride Haldimand Norfolk celebrated Pride Day 2023 Saturday at McKinnon Park in Caledonia with live music, food, a vendor market and family fun zone.
“I am elated at the turnout, and I feel like all the people involved in the event are as well,” said Robyn Cunningham Edl, chair of the Haldimand Norfolk Pride committee. “The vendors are doing well and we are so happy to have food trucks this year.”
Cunningham Edl, estimating attendance to be about 500-700 similar to their 2022 numbers, said she was pleased to see that kind of Pride support for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in a rural area.
“A lot of the talent is local, and it’s done by people that are local – every single one of the board members and people on the team are local. It’s bringing visibility for people in the LGBTQ and allowing a space for them to celebrate and come together and see wonderful entertainment. It’s just special that it can happen in these small towns because not everyone is able to get to Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara and the larger city centres. So to bring it out here, it means a lot.”
Kasha Czech, from Kitchener, a member of the Binbrook Pride committee who was doing drag makeovers Saturday, was glad to be back at the event. “It’s just a great overall experience. Everyone coming together and supportive, especially after all of the things you see in the media these days. To have a bunch of people come here, and this space be all about love, it’s fantastic.”
This was the first Pride Day attended by Katie Whitehouse of Dunnville and her two children.
“Just seeing how everybody is talking to everybody, it’s like a family. I had heard about this stuff, but actually seeing it first-hand, it’s almost a little bit overwhelming – in a good way,” she said. “It’s such an amazing day, so much support. I don’t have the words to convey the support that I hear and I’ve heard so many stories today. The family-type feeling that I see here, the love… I don’t know how to explain it.”
It was the sixth Haldimand Norfolk Pride Day, and the second held in Caledonia.
“Pride Month is the month of June and we are the first Pride that happens in this area, in Ontario,” noted Cunningham Edl, “and we’ve kept it that way so we are the kickoff to a month full of celebrations for our communities, so that’s pretty cool.”
Cunningham Edl said the Haldimand Norfolk Pride committee hopes to hold an event in Norfolk in 2024.
“We’ve only done festivals in Haldimand so far, so we are hoping to do our festival in Norfolk County next year… hopefully. It’s time to get to Norfolk, that’s our vision.”
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