Pride Month celebrations continued June 24, with the colourful Little Pride Parade from Davis Bay pier followed by Sunday in the Park with Pride at Mission Point Park. The family-friendly festivities included old-fashioned lawn games, face painting, hula hooping, crafts, dancing and a pet parade. The event was hosted by Sunday in the Park with Pride Society in collaboration with Sunshine Coast Community Services and the Ministry of Children and Family Development and offered a host of resources for the LGBTQ2 community, with a focus on youth. Over 350 people attended the third annual event.
Organizer Laurie Lesk had this to say: "For the past two years, we have had 200 each time. The first year, there were 15 youth. The second year, there were about 70 young people, youth and young adults. In an informal count, there were over 120 young people, youth and young adults present at this year’s event. This is their event, and they clearly know it, with so many of them in colourful garb, sporting rainbow flags like capes, and spreading their joy in every corner of Mission Point Park. Andrea Routley, Outreach Coordinator at the Gibsons Public Library, reported making about 150 buttons with youth at the Gibsons Public Library / SC Museum and Archives tent - one of the many organizations in the Field of Allies - in the three hours following the parade. Everyone danced, hula-hooped, ate perogies and cinnamon buns, and clamoured to get a good seat for the Pet Parade. A happy little dog in its rainbow best won the Best Dressed Pet event. The rain held off until about 3 p.m., started gently, then finally let go as Sunday in the Park with Pride closed for another year."
For more information, see www.prideguide.ca
For more photos from the day’s festivities, see our online galleries at www.coastreporter.net/photos-videos
