Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Greater Napanee will be proud for many reasons the weekend of June 3-5 during the town’s first ever Pride Festival.
The weekend will be packed full of family fun to celebrate the fact love comes in all forms.
“June being Pride Month we thought it would be great to kick off Pride Month with our festivities and then there’s tons (of Pride events) in the area so we kind of start off Pride Month with Napanee Pride and then travel around for the rest of the month,” said Nina Irvine of Greater Napanee Pride.
The un-official start to the weekend festivities will take place June 3 as County of Lennox and Addington Libraries host a chalk the pride-walk event at their Amherstview (at 11 a.m.) and Napanee (at 2 p.m.) locations.
Kids of all ages will spread kindness and acceptance through Pride themed crafts and sidewalk art.
June 4 will be Pride in the County Variety Show, held at the Strathcona Paper Centre. A family friendly event will take place at 6:30 p.m. followed by a 19+ show at 8:30 p.m.
Similar to the sold-out Drag Us Out Back show held at the SPC in April, the variety show will feature the musical and comedic styling of queens such as Crystal Quartz, HercuSleaze, Tyffanie Morgan, Oktavia, Holi Cow, Lucy Flawless and more.
Tickets for the event are available at www.GreaterNapaneePride.com.
Irvine says it was important to have a family friendly show because Pride is for all ages.
“A lot of the members of the group, we are parents and a lot of the parents of the group know what it’s like to be a queer youth in Napanee and trying to find your place to fit in,” said Irvine. “I think it’s really important that we reach queer youth in Napanee and allies alike. Pride isn’t just for grown ups. This drag show is not just for grown ups. It’s for everybody.”
The fun continues Sunday in what will be a historic event-the first ever Pride March in Greater Napanee.
“The march is going to start at 11 a.m.,” said Irvine. “We’re going to start from the pavilion and Conservation Park. We don’t require people to pre-register. If you want to be there, we just want people to show up. People can come as groups. They can represent themselves as a group in any way, businesses can come. Probably don’t want banners because the path is a little narrow but we want people to bring signs, wear their rainbows, wear their pride and show their support. Anybody that wants to join the march can join. If somebody wants to watch the march and doesn’t want to join, they can just watch as well.”
The march will proceed along the Napanee River trail through Springside Park, along Dundas Street and down Centre Street, looping back to the starting point in Conservation Park.
That’ll also be the site of a market featuring queer artists, running from noon to 5 p.m. At 1 p.m. there will be Drag Queen Story Time for kids as well as a reading from Napanee’s own Catherine Hernandez, author of the critically acclaimed Scarborough. There will also be face painting, pony rides and a queer trivia game.
“We don’t want anybody to feel discouraged, maybe people who aren’t familiar or haven’t travelled to other cities to other Pride festivities, we don’t want anybody to feel like they’re not sure what they’re getting into,” said Irvine. “This is just a celebration. We just want as many people there who want to come out and show their support and show support for a community that I think for a long time hasn’t had that visible support in Napanee. I think it’s a community that has always been here, but it’s a community that hasn’t always had a place to go to say we’re here.”
Irvine said the movement started small from getting the town to fly the pride flag to painting of picnic tables in rainbow colours last June to now a full fledged festival.
“We’re making history. This is Napanee’s first ever Pride. All you have to do is show up and history is made. The momentum is building almost quicker than we can keep up with,” said Irvine. “As a queer parent I love knowing that kids are going to grow up with Pride in Napanee and it’s never going to be a question. It’s not this foreign thing that other places do and these exotic festivities. It’s just Pride, it’s everywhere. I think it’s wonderful.”
In anticipation of the event members of Lennox and Addington Community Living spruced up the Greater Napanee sign in Lion’s Park on Thursday by adding a splash of rainbow paint to the letters.