Collingwood will fly the rainbow flag again this year beginning July 31 with a flag raising ceremony hosted by Fierté Simcoe Pride and with the support of the town.
This is the second year the town has supported a flag raising at a municipal facility. The flag will be raised at the Collingwood Public Library at 4 p.m.
Three years ago, the town had a policy in place not to allow flag raisings, and so the pride flag flew at Georgian College South Georgian Bay campus.
The flag raising is part of a list of events planned for the eighth-annual Fierté Simcoe Pride Week (July 29 - Aug. 11).
Fierté Simcoe Pride president Brandon Rhéal Amyot said there are plans in the works to host a Pride in the Park picnic. The time is to be announced, but the event will take place on Aug. 3 at Sunset Point and will include music, games, and arts and crafts. There will be some food there, but Amyot said guests are welcome to bring potluck items to share.
The pre-Pride dance on July 25 at The Brownstone will kick off the week's events.
The 19-plus event will begin at 9 p.m. The soundtrack to the night will feature popular music from LGBTQ artists, but the main event is a drag show.
“We really want to focus on new and upcoming drag performers because Simcoe County has an up-and-coming drag community,” Amyot said.
Flag raisings have been confirmed in almost all of the county’s municipalities.
In Clearview, the flag will fly at Fire Station One (Highway 26) with a raising ceremony on Aug. 1 at 4 p.m. In Wasaga Beach, the flag raising takes place at 1 p.m. at the town hall with a picnic to follow (co-hosted with the Wasaga Beach Youth Centre).In Orillia, the rainbow flag will be raised at the Orillia Opera House, a significant site, according to Amyot.
“The Orillia Opera House is the site of a historic event in our local history,” Amyot said of the incident in the early 1980s, when the venue was raided and a number of men were arrested for gross indecency, and their names were published. “It’s important to talk about those things. They add context.”
Other local events include a potluck social on Aug. 6 at 90 Savannah Crescent in Wasaga Beach beginning at 6 p.m. You can RSVP here.
There will also be some signature events, and Amyot is encouraging people to share their time and resources and rides to make sure their friends and neighbours can come to out-of-town events.
For the fourth year, Orillia will host the Trans Pride March on Aug. 8. It will start with a rally at Veterans’ Memorial Park at 6 p.m. Participants will then march to the pavilion in Couchiching Beach Park, where there will be a free picnic with food donated by Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH).
“OSMH is an important fixture in the LGBTQ community,” Amyot said, noting the hospital flies a rainbow flag year-round and also has an LGBTQ committee.
A Pride Prom will take place Aug. 2 at the Sheba Shrine Club in Barrie. There will be two proms — one for those younger than 19 at 7 p.m. and a 19-plus event starting at 9:30. Tickets are required for that event, as well as for the Simcoe County Pride Awards Gala, which will return for a fifth year Aug. 10 at CFB Borden. Tickets for the gala are being sold until July 28.
“It’s about giving people the Pride prom of their dreams that they might not have been able to have at their school,” Amyot said.
The week of celebration will culminate Aug. 11 in Barrie, with a Pride Festival at Meridian Place from noon to 10 p.m.
Fierté Simcoe Pride is encouraging businesses and organizations to display Pride colours during the week to show their support, as “the rainbow is a really important symbol for a lot of people,” Amyot said.
To find out more about Fierté Simcoe Pride Week, including ticket information and more events, click here.
- With files from Nathan Taylor
