| | |  Travel & Outdoors | April 2009 
2009 Vancouver Gay Pride Parade and Festival Moving Forward
 Troy Petenbrink - Examiner.com
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| | Last year was the 30th anniversary of Vancouver's Pride parade and Festival, drawing a record crowd of nearly 530,000 participants and spectators. | |
On March 20, the Vancouver Pride Society unveiled its theme for 2009 and the next two years: "Educate, Liberate, Celebrate."
This year, Vancouver Pride will focus on education by sharing the history of the LGBT community and recognizing the social and legal accomplishments that have been made during the past 40 years. The focus will shift in 2010 to the issue of liberation as Vancouver Pride will address inequalities locally and abroad. The Pride parade and festival will join in celebration with athletes and cultural participants of the Out Games, which Vancouver will host in 2011.
Last year was the 30th anniversary of Vancouver's Pride parade and Festival, drawing a record crowd of nearly 530,000 participants and spectators.
Organizers of this year's celebration are optimistic and expect strong participation but there is some worry about the weak economy.
Vancouver's Celebration of Light, a renowned international fireworks competition that began in 1990 and scheduled to be held in the weeks leading up to Pride with its finale the night before Pride, was canceled due to a shortfall in funding. However, last-minute support from the City, previous sponsors as well as two new sponsors, will now allow the event to be held as scheduled.
“There’s not a question, we’re in a tight bind,” Caryl Dolinko, sponsorship coordinator for Vancouver Pride Society, told a Pride Society board meeting Feb 2, as reported by Xtra West. Dolinko was addressing the fact that some previous sponsors have not renewed their support and few new sponsors have been identified.
Vancity, Canada's largest credit union, was a presenting sponsor for the past three years. It renewed its sponsorship for 2009 but at a lower level. No presenting sponsor has yet been named for this year.
One possible bright spot might be the slight decline in the Canadian dollar. Visitors from the United States will likely experience a friendlier exchange rate.
Vancouver was ranked as the number one LGBT leisure travel destination in Canada, according to a 2008 survey of U.S. gay travelers.
The survey, conducted by Community Marketing Inc., a San Francisco-based LGBT market research firm, also ranked Vancouver as the fourth most popular destination outside the U.S. - behind London, Puerto Vallarta and Paris. |
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