The Rainbow Club of South Georgian Bay (Rainbow Club) is proud to officially announce that it will be hosting its first-ever pride festival in Collingwood.
Collingwood Pride will be a festival and celebration for everyone, including our local and visiting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer or questioning individuals and our collective friends, families and allies (LGBTQ+). It will be a weekend long celebration of our community’s diversity, vibrancy and strength.
The event will include:
• An online virtual event that runs from 4pm – 7pm EST on July 16th and 17th.
• Reveal of The Town of Collingwood’s first-ever Rainbow Crosswalk
• Pride Flag Raising
• Downtown decor and decor celebrations from participating businesses
The virtual event will feature a vast array of speakers, educators and entertainers all celebrating LGBTQ+ life including Host & Moderator Leslie Roberts (CTV News), keynote speakers Carole Pope (singer, songwriter, actress & activist), Carson Arthur (global landscape designer & HGTV personality), Kurtis Gabriel (Hockey Forward for San Jose Sharks).
In addition, government speakers with messages of welcome & support from the Brian Saunderson (Mayor of The Town of Collingwood), Terry Dowdall (MP, Simcoe-Grey), Lisa Macleod (MPP, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries). The event will include Drag Queens and Kings hosting trivia breaks, make-up tutorials, story-time breaks, interactive games and more! There will also be a few celebrity cameo appearance shout-outs
by the likes of Jann Arden, Carson Kressley, Brooke Lynn Heights, Priyanka & Fortune Feimster in addition to panels on diverse topics led by local community speakers.
The complete lineup of speakers is available by clicking here.
“Collingwood Pride will be an amazing virtual event experience. We have an incredible program curated with the perfect balance of important topics, discussions and stories along with fun breaks and lots of attendee interactive engagement options. Stay tuned (by registering for the event) for the launch of our virtual event platform, the downloadable event app and the announcement of our complete Agenda & Program, “says Collingwood Pride Director of Events Lori D’Agostino.
“It is not quite the big street party and festival event that we were planning in 2020 which we had to cancel due to Covid-19 but we are ready to celebrate and what we have planned despite current pandemic restrictions is pretty remarkable”, says Collingwood Pride Executive Producer Dr. John Miller.
“The community support for this event is incredible as can be seen from our list of sponsors, the support from The Town of Colllingwood, the B.I.A and participating merchants and businesses across South Georgian Bay, who all want to help us show the world that Collingwood and our region is a place that celebrates love, friendship, diversity and inclusion for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and two-spirit individuals and communities,” says Pride Managing Director Andrew Siegwart.
Anyone interested in becoming a Collingwood Pride volunteer can click here.