Tri-Pride, stylized tri-Pride, is an annual non-profit lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Pride festival in the Waterloo Region of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, encompassing the cities of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Kitchener and Waterloo. Prior to the launch of Guelph Pride in 2003, the event also included the city of

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

. tri-Pride is considered Canada's largest regional pride festival. The official name of the organization is tri-Pride Community Association Inc.

History

This event was formed in 1995 and has grown ever since its inception. The event was extended to a week in 2003, and its 3,000 visitors made it one of the largest pride events in southern Ontario after Toronto Pride. The ''

Waterloo Region Record The ''Waterloo Region Record'' (formerly ''The Record'') is the daily newspaper covering Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, including the cities of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener, Waterloo, Ontario, Water ...

'',

Labatt Brewing Company Labatt Brewing Company Limited () is a Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew. In 2004, Interb ...

, and the local CTV affiliate

CKCO-DT CKCO-DT (channel 13) is a television station in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside London-based CTV 2 station CFPL-DT (channel 10), although the two ...

have been sponsors of the event. The 2011 edition included a horse race at Grand River Raceway in

Elora, Ontario The Historic Village of Elora is a community in the township (Canada), township of Centre Wellington Wellington County, Ontario, (Wellington County) in the Ontario, Province of Ontario, Canada. It is well known for its 19th-century limestone arc ...

which was claimed to be "harness racing’s first-ever Drag (Queen) Race". In 2012 6,000 people attended the event. Performers at the 2013 festival included Gabe Lopez, God Made Me Funky, Drake Jensen, Sarah Smith and The Ecstatic. The tri-Pride Live Music Festival headliners for 2014 were

Thelma Houston Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1943) is an American singer and actress. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit in 1977 with her recording of " Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy for ...

and ''

Canadian Idol ''Canadian Idol'' is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show '' Pop Idol''. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Do ...

'' winner Theo Tams. The organization almost disbanded in 2016 due to a lack of volunteers. In 2017 and 2019 the tri-Pride organization helped organize a Pride march in Kitchener. During tri-Pride in 2018, rainbow crosswalks were unveiled in Kitchener and Waterloo. Kitchener's crosswalk was paid for by the city. tri-Pride did not occur in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event returned in June 2022.

Events

The event has often run from late May to early June. The festival's programming has at times started with raising the

Pride flag A pride flag is any flag that represents a segment or part of the LGBTQ community. ''Pride'' in this case refers to the notion of LGBTQ pride. The terms ''LGBTQ flag'' and ''queer flag'' are often used interchangeably. Pride flags can represen ...

at one of the city halls. A diverse range of events are held in all three cities, including musical, comedy, and drag performances. 2017's tri-Pride also saw crafting nights, pageants, support groups, and

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

. tri-Pride's two-week-long program of events usually culminates in a weekend concert in Kitchener's Civic Square or Kitchener's Victoria Park.

References

External links

Official Website

External links

Official site
{{LGBT in Canada Recurring events established in 1995 Music festivals in Ontario Festivals in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo 1995 establishments in Ontario LGBTQ festivals in Ontario LGBTQ music festivals