The Pride festival is now officially underway in Regina.
It began with the flag-raising at ceremony Monday morning at city hall with a crowd of about 100 people there to support and celebrate the event.
The Queen City Pride Festival is an annual, week-long celebration of the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer) community.
Festival co-chair Jesse Ireland welcomes the support from the community since its official inception in 1989.
“You know we’ve come a long way. It’s exciting to see that kind of progress in the city and the country,” he explained. “It’s great to see that love and that support growing and an acceptance of the entire LGBTQ community.”
This year’s events include an awards gala on Wednesday and the annual pride parade on Saturday.
Pride week is bittersweet for many this year as it comes in the wake of the Orlando shooting, an attack on a gay nightclub in Florida that 49 people killed by a gunman and many more injured.
On the first day at least, the famous pride flag was at half-mast at city hall in recognition of those who lost their lives.
The #pride flag at #yqr City Hall is now at half-last in memory of the victims of the #Orlando shooting. pic.twitter.com/WIKpV2GiEZ
— Sarah Mills (@smillsSK) June 20, 2016
“We were all shaken up by what happened in Orlando but out of that there is a silver lining in that the community has grown strong together; there is that sense of unity and sense of love,” Ireland explained.
A complete schedule of events can be found on Queen City Pride’s website.