Pride Week wraps up with feel-good parade

Windsor-Essex Pride Fest wrapped up with a rousing, feel-good parade along Ottawa Street to Lanspeary Park on Sunday.

About 70 entries moved along the parade route, dancing, singing, with some performing a call-and-response routine of Happy Pride Day with the sizeable crowd that lined the streets along the route.

SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS AT WINDSOR PRIDE

The Windsor-Essex Pride parade brought out thousands of people as it kicked off Sunday morning.

It began at 11 a.m. at Market Square on Ottawa Street and Argyle Road and travelled west to Lanspeary Park.

And as always, the overarching theme of the all-ages event was love.

PRIDE PARADE BRINGS EXCITEMENT TO OTTAWA STREET

Windsor-Essex Pride Fest brought the Pride Parade down Ottawa Street once again Sunday morning.

The annual event, held since 1992, has various participants from all across the city, with many supporters cheering them on throughout the path to Lanspeary Park.

Windsor actor appreciates community support during local pride parade

For Nicole Clark, seeing the swell of support from the local community during the 2023 edition of the Windsor-Essex Pride parade was greatly appreciated.

“Growing up queer, you find your community as you’re growing up,” the actor with Korda Artistic Productions (KAP) said. “It’s like coming home…You’re born with a family and then you find your family growing up.”

She says the performing arts have also helped her find community.

WINDSOR-ESSEX SHOWS ITS PRIDE THIS WEEKEND

Windsor-Essex Pride Fest kicks into high gear this weekend with markets in Lanspeary Park, a fundraising run, performances, and a parade.

The Windsor-Essex Pride Fest Parade is on Sunday morning. At 11 a.m., the parade starts at Market Square on Ottawa Street and Argyle Road and travels west to Lanspeary Park.

Windsor-Essex Pride Fest gears up with week of events

What can the public expect from the many Windsor-Essex Pride Fest events happening over this week and next weekend?

“So much fun,” said Wendi Nicholson, president of WE Pride Fest. “Rainbows and glitter for days!”

After months of planning, and with the efforts of countless volunteers, the Windsor-Essex region’s annual multi-day celebration of its 2SLGBTQIA+ community is in full swing and offering lots to do.

Many events planned for Windsor-Essex Pride Festival

On Tuesday from 7 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., “Let’s Talk About Sex!” is a program of works exploring the “joy, heartbreak, humour, and frustration of queer sexuality.” It is part of “In Your Pocket,” an ongoing screening series of short films created by LGBTQ2IA+ artists.

Colourful ‘rainbow’ picnic tables honour Pride at Lanspeary Park

What better way to celebrate Windsor as an inclusive community than some bright new splashes of colour in Lanspeary Park?

“Currently, there’s nothing in our city that recognizes our community on a permanent level,” said Walter Cassidy, chair of the Windsor Essex Rainbow Alliance.

That’s now changed, thanks to the alliance and its partners, with the addition of six “rainbow” picnic tables with seating and umbrella shades along the park’s Ottawa Street entrance.

New LGBTQ bar planned for Windsor fills a need ‘where we can go and be ourselves’

A new bar will create a safe space and fill a void in Windsor, Ont., when it opens later this year, some LGBTQ community members say.

The Well is set to open on Erie Street in Windsor this fall, owner John Ribson told CBC News. It’s a bar, restaurant and nightclub that describes itself online as a place “with arms open to all walks of life” with a mission to provide spaces for the LGBTQ community.