Reflecting on 30 years of Victoria Pride parades, David Tillson, past president of the Victoria Pride Society, remembers the very first one.
"It was very empowering and very exciting," said Tillson. "When they finally approached the city for the permit, the permit was just for us to march on the sidewalk. But then we spilled that onto the street to stop traffic."
It was in 1994 after organizer Barb McLauchlin phoned the City of Victoria to acquire a permit to march on the sidewalk. A couple hundred people attended, marching from City Hall down Government Street to the Parliament buildings.
The permit expanded the following year, and the parade ended with a festival at Fisherman's Wharf Park so the festivities could continue.
"And that became our first festival," Tillson said, who later became president of the Victoria Pride Society from 2005 to 2022.
July 7 marks the 30th anniversary of the annual colourful Pride Parade, part of the 11-day Victoria Pride Festival which runs June 27-July 7.
Almost 80,000 people joined in to watch more than 140 glammed-up parade entries in 2023.
This year the parade starts at 11 a.m. and follows last year's route, starting at Douglas and Fisgard then heading south on Douglas Street. It will then take a right at Humboldt Street, left on Government Street, right on Belleville Street and left on Menzies. It ends at the corner of Menzies and Kingston Streets.
Pride Festival in the Park takes place the same day, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at MacDonald Park in James Bay. The event features food trucks, more than 130 vendors and entertainment, including family-friendly performances. Admission is by donation.
Monika Turner, 40, who goes by the pronouns they/them, has attended the Pride Festival in the Park for the past two years after moving from Kelowna. Turner was asked what makes the event meaningful for them.
"Because we're still discriminated against. People still don't want us to exist," they said.
Turner, born in Venezuela, expressed the difficulties of growing up while facing homophobia within their own home and didn't come out until "late in life" at age 33.
"When you grow up hearing really homophobic things, it terrifies you. When you know you're different, when you know you're queer," they said.
Their partner performed last year at Festival in the Park on the main stage as drag king Fierce Brosnan and dedicated a special performance – of the love song 'To Me From You' by Naethan Apollo – to Turner. “She felt it was important to perform that because it wasn’t that long ago that gay marriage wasn’t legal here," said Turner. “
The moment emphasized a feeling of safety for them.
“It meant everything. I think I was probably sobbing ... when you're visibly queer, you show other people who are scared that if they can do it, so can I."
At this year's Festival in the Park, entertainment will kick off at 1 p.m. with drag performers, DJs and other performers. There will be two bars on-site, one serving alcoholic beverages and one serving beverages without alcohol, including a selection of mocktails.
The festival headliners are Coco Klein, a Canadian-born, Berlin-based, boundary-pushing drag and performance artist; Ella Lamoureux, a Two-Spirit drag queen from the Yukon; and Indigenous performer Shelita, owner-operator of Drag Sunday Productions.
Reflecting on how the Pride Parade and festival has grown into such a big celebration in so few decades, Tillson attributes it to the evolution of culture and growing acceptance.
"And it's a fun day, it's a great day to fly your colours."
Go to victoriapridesociety.org for more information.