Calgary Pride Parade expected to draw 45,000 to the downtown core
Posted Aug 30, 2014 11:51 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Calgary Pride’s crown jewel goes Sunday afternoon with organizers of the Pride Parade putting together the final touches.
The celebration of the city’s LGBTQ community is expected to bring up to 45,000 people to the core to watch or participate in the march along Stephen Avenue.
Pride President Stephen Wright said the event has made significant strides in Calgary, with both the number of people joining in the celebrations and the number of organizations putting on events to support the community.
“You can’t really compare us to Toronto, where they get half a million people coming out,” Wright said, “But for Calgary, those numbers is amazing for where we are in Alberta. We are a bit of a Conservative city. So it’s great to see that many people coming out.”
After more than two decade of marching, the protesters, and demonstrators who have showed up on the sidelines at various times are slowly been drowned out by what could be a record number of people showing support in the 24th annual event.
There are over 100 groups participating in the parade this year including the three PC leadership hopefuls, Olympic athletes and players from the Calgary Stampeders and the Calgary Flames.
The parade goes from 12:00p.m. to 2:00p.m. It ends at the Pride Festival grounds at Shaw Millennium Park which goes until 6:00p.m.
