(Montreal) The Montreal Pride festival will hold its 15e edition of 1er to August 7 with nine free large-scale shows, 150 artists, around a hundred community activities with more than 200 organizations as well as the traditional parade to mark the last day of the festivities.
Posted at 2:50 p.m.
The organization of the event proceeded Tuesday to the official launch of its programming which wants to be “exuberant” and “full of life”, after a year in virtual and another in hybrid formula. The return of Pride Montreal is essential for the LGBTQ+ communities, according to its general manager, Simon Gamache.
“In the past few years, it has not been easy for anyone, but even more difficult for marginalized communities, including 2SLGBTQIA communities. So getting together, celebrating together, feeling good, feeling safe, is fundamental,” says Mr. Gamache.
He does not fear the stigmatization of the event and its participants due to the epidemic of monkeypox which currently mainly affects gay and bisexual men.
Gamache says his organization has been contributing since May to prevention and vaccination efforts alongside local agencies and public health. “Our communities have reacted really well,” he says, adding that thousands of people have been vaccinated against the virus so far.
Diane Dufresne in opening show
During the seven days of festivities, several major free shows will be presented on the Esplanade of the Olympic Park, the new main site of Montreal Pride.
The opening night will be provided by singer Diane Dufresne, Montreal DJ Pierre Kwenders, Les femmes au tambour de Wendake and the Montreal Kiki Ballroom, on August 3.
The next day, the event promises the biggest free drag queen show in the country hosted by Rita Baga, proclaimed Montreal’s queen of drag. Nearly twenty artists from Canada, the United States, France and the United Kingdom, most of whom have participated in the shows of RuPaul’s Drag Race and Queen of the Universe, will be gathered on stage.
Many Quebec artists such as Cœur de Pirate, Corneille, Pasty Gallant, Alaclair Ensemble, Ariane Moffatt and Sarahmée will also take part in one of the nine large-scale shows.
The grand Pride parade to celebrate advances in LGBTQ+ rights will take place on René-Lévesque Boulevard on Sunday, August 7, welcoming only hybrid, electric or biofuel vehicles. A minute of silence will be observed at 2:30 p.m.
Performances by two DJs and by singer-songwriter and Brazilian drag queen Pabllo Vittar will close the festival.
In addition to the festivities, Montréal Pride is committed throughout the event to carrying ten demands established by the Conseil québécois LGBT. These include adequate financial support from 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations, free surgeries and gender-affirming care, decriminalization of sex work, free HIV/AIDS care, and government funding for education. to “positive, emancipatory and inclusive” sexuality.
“We amplify the demands of the community sector. We know that we have greater visibility than all the community organizations put together. So, we have to use it, we serve as a platform,” explains Mr. Gamache.
Just before the start of the festival, the Quebec metropolis will host the 24e International AIDS Conference, July 29-August 2. As part of this meeting, Montreal Pride will present Rapture, a creation of Dave St-Pierre and a collective of artists. This is a contemporary dance work that takes a look at the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. The performances will be held at Le Monastère cabaret from July 27 to August 6.
This dispatch was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta Exchanges and The Canadian Press for the news.