Friday’s Digital Pride Parade helps close out York’s celebration

June 24, 2021 · 0 Comments

Pride celebrations this year have been hallmarked by forging new traditions – but the final days of York Pride’s digital celebrations will be a new spin on a family-friendly tradition.

Digital Pride continues this Friday, June 25, with a Digital Pride Parade from 2 – 4 p.m.

Built around all things 1980s and a theme of “Just a Little Love” it will be a sea of neon from the comfort of your computer screen or tablet.

“Trust us, we truly can’t wait to be back on the streets of York Region celebrating with you again!” say organizers. “All of our performers, guests, partners, and sponsors will get to relive the unique times of the 80s. This is our way of reminding people how far we’ve come and the challenges we continue to face and overcome as a community. So, get that big hair and neon colour out! Dust off those high-waisted jeans and find the brightest spandex pants you own because we are jumping back in time to help you find some joy within this crazy year.

“There will also be a big Zoom party during the live stream. Get the Zoom code by signing up on yorkpride.ca through our email list.”

The fun continues Friday evening with Turnin’ Up the Heat from 7 – 9 p.m., a community cooking event which organizers say is the best way to get to know someone.

“It builds strong bonds and helps connect people in a special way that is sometimes impossible to explain. York Pride is all about teaching essential life skills to our community. York Pride wants to encourage you to eat healthier and have fun while doing it. We know the importance of eating a meal together, so we invite you to the kitchen to cook with us, eat with us, and celebrate Pride like a true family.

“Watch as our special guest chefs cooks up a wild meal in the Pride kitchen and answers your questions live on Zoom. This year, we’re partnering with Rainbow Camp and donating a portion of the proceeds from each experience box to help send 2SLGBTQ+ young Canadians to camp. We’ve even got some beautifully talented musical artists joining us to make the experience even more memorable.”

The continued health restrictions of the global pandemic have not dampened the Pride sprit in York Region.

York Pride has hosted a month of programming on their yorkpride.ca website, and other community groups, such as Pflag and the Aurora Public Library have had a series of events all their own, including the popular Drag Queen Story Hour.

The fun inevitably has to come to a close, and they’re doing so in style on June 30 from 7 – 9 p.m. with their Closing Party.

“The show went on and we slayed COVID the best we could,” they say. “Join us as we close off season two of Digital Pride with a bang! We’ll keep it simple and sweet, lots of dance, drag, bands and more.”

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter