Prince Albert showed their Pride with one of the largest Pride Parades ever in the city on Saturday afternoon.
LJ Tyson, co-chair of Prince Albert Pride, said they were happy with how many people came to show their support for the signature event of Pride Week in Prince Albert.
“Oh my God, we are so happy with the turnout,” Tyson said. “This is amazing. We obviously don’t have official numbers yet, but this might be our biggest turnout yet.
After a few years of COVID this is amazing. This is more than we expected.”
The route began at the Prince Albert Court of Queen’s Bench and wrapped up at Kinsmen Park for Pride in the Park.
The driving parade went around the downtown and the eastern part of the city before joining the Pride Parade. People came out and cheered along the route, wishing the Parade “Happy Pride” and showing their support.
“This is all about love, right,” Tyson said. “That’s what we want to spread today in Prince Albert, just loving your fellow humans, love for the human race no matter what circumstances they come from, no matter what their sexual preference is, no matter what gender they identify as, or if they are non-binary. You know it’s all just about love.”
Tyson thanked the community for all of the support they showed.
“I don’t know if they are coming out to show their allyship. I don’t know if they are coming out just to see what’s going on. The point being they are here, they are showing us that they care for their 2SLGBTQIA + community and that’s the most important part,” he said. “It is so amazing to see all of the people in the park and all of the wonderful colours of all of the flags flying.”
Tyson was impressed by the number of people who were at the event.
“It doesn’t matter who’s who—if they are supporting or if they are part of the queer community. The fact is that they are all here and it is so amazing to see the support for the queer community,” he said.
Other events during the week included Colour Your Pride event at the Mann Art Gallery, Queer Coffee at Smitty’s on Tuesday and by Zoom on Wednesday and The John M. Cuelenaere Public Library hosted a Gaymer Night on Friday.
Tyson said the support throughout the week was all better than expected.
“All of the events had way better turnouts than we anticipated and better than previous years, so we are growing and we are getting stronger and stronger every year,” he said.
Prince Albert Pride considers itself a small board but the support was overwhelming.
“I mean compared to our fellow other Saskatchewan boards like the Saskatoon Pride board and the Regina Pride board, we are tiny in comparison but oh my goodness we might need to add a few new spots on our board after this,” he said.
Tyson wanted to thank the community for all of the support throughout the week.
“A huge thank you to all of our sponsors and volunteers, the board greatly appreciates it because there is no way this could happen without them,” Tyson said.
The week concluded with the Calvary United Church Diversity Service on Sunday.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
