Fraser Valley Pride

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Fraser Valley Pride 2022 returns to in person festivities

EMMALINE SPENCER

From July 9 to 16, the Fraser Valley Pride celebration will be taking place in Abbotsford and Mission. The final and main event will be hosted at Heritage Park in Mission from 12:00 - 8:00 p.m. This year’s festival will mark the tenth anniversary since the first Fraser Valley Pride celebration.

The weeklong pride event is hosted and planned by the Fraser Valley Youth Society (FVYS), a nonprofit organization that supports youth ages 13-25 that identify as LGBTQ+. The FVYS hosts informative workshop events in Fraser Valley communities and hosts weekly drop-ins with food, resources, and a safe place for youth to gather and hang out. According to Ali Slack, a representative from the team planning the pride festival, there will be a variety of events and activities being hosted throughout the Fraser Valley area leading up to the main celebration on July 16.

On July 9, to kick off the festivities, there will be an adult only “Tucked & Loaded: Pride Edition” drag show featuring Anida Tythole. This evening event will also feature other local drag performers. Following this will be a family-friendly drag queen story time event hosted on July 12 at the Reach Art Gallery in Abbotsford. In the evening, HUB co. Brewing will be hosting a trivia night that will be pride themed.

There will be a youth (ages 13-21) dance and drag show on July 14. Entry will be by donation and will be open to other ages as well, but is meant to mainly serve as an event that the youth can feel comfortable attending. The dance will be hosted at the Mission Youth Activity Centre.

The finale and main celebration will be hosted on July 16. As this will be the first year of in-person events since the pandemic, and the tenth anniversary of the first ever Fraser Valley Pride celebrations, the event is expected to be extra special. One of the main differences between this year and previous years is that the event will be eight hours long, three hours longer than the last in-person festival, and will feature a variety of food trucks, a drag show, local performers, vendor booths, and local queer talent.

Due to difficulties in securing the Jubilee Park in Abbotsford — the event’s usual location — the celebration has been moved to Heritage Park in Mission. The FVYS worked hard to find a safe place to host the festival and are looking forward to having everyone come out and celebrate together again.

Slack mentioned, “I love seeing community, and especially from the perspective of working in a youth organization, seeing people find their space and find their people and find safety and inclusion in such a grand way, because I think it means a lot when we walk by a door to a business and we see a rainbow sticker or that this is a safe space.”

According to Slack, the annual window display competition will not be happening in lieu of focusing on the larger parts of this year’s celebration, but local shops and homes are still encouraged to do window displays and to post their displays to media while tagging Fraser Valley Pride. Slack also explained that due to the size of the event and the safety measures, they are still looking for volunteers, and invite anyone interested to contact Fraser Valley Pride at info@fvpride.ca. Follow FVPride on Instagram for more information on the events in coming weeks.