Several downtown streets in Stratford, Ontario, were closed for about two hours on Sunday, May 31, as the Perth County Pride March and Stratford Pride Festival took over the area.
The march started at 1 p.m. from the Tom Patterson Theatre at 111 Lakeside Drive. Marchers traveled roughly 1.5 kilometres along Lakeside Drive to Upper Queen’s Park, where the festival kicked off at 1:30 p.m. and ran until 4 p.m. The event included live music from Gravity Junky and Trash Panda Brass, performances by Stratford Dance Co. and drag performers, food trucks, vendors, and family fun such as face painting.
To make way for the march, City of Stratford crews closed Lakeside Drive from Waterloo Street to Lakeside Drive North, Queen’s Park Drive from Lakeside Drive North to Richard Monette Way, Richard Monette Way, and Parkview Drive from Water Street to Richard Monette Way from noon until 2 p.m. An additional stretch of Richard Monette Way, mostly used for bus parking, stayed closed from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Stratford-Perth Pride Board Chair Melissa Marcelissen said the march gave a powerful show of community support for 2SLGBTQIA+ residents. “When you come out to an event, like Stratford Perth Pride, it’s just a re-affirmation that sometimes those voices are allowed,” Marcelissen said, noting that hearing support in person helps push back against the harder messages queer people often hear.
After the park festivities, an official afterparty kicked off at 7:30 p.m. at Matilda Gallery and Art Bar, with doors opening at 7 p.m. Trash Panda Brass performed, keeping the celebration going into the evening.
