Queen City Pride Festival combines real world with digital world

Queen City Pride officially kicks into gear on Friday.

“Pride Month and celebrating pride is still so important,” said Dan Shier, co-chair of Queen City Pride. “Despite a lot of growth and change in the recent years, there’s still so much that is left to do.

“There is a lot of learning and understanding that needs to happen and there’s still challenges faced by our community that we’re still working towards changing as well.”

With events taking place online and in person, the hybrid 10-day festival will run from Friday until June 13, beginning with the ceremonial flag raising Friday at City Hall at 9 a.m.

As stated on its website, the Queen City Pride Festival aims to: “Highlight our communities’ cultures, histories, achievements, and societal challenges still faced by our communities today. Every event strives to fulfill our organization’s mandate to educate, entertain, and enlighten our audience on the rich diversity of our city.”

Those wishing to attend the festivities can access the digital pride guide online to see the full lineup of events.

“This weekend we are having the queer local market at Regina’s farmers market,” Shier said. “It’s our opportunity to bring local queer and trans makers, crafters and community organizations to the market that happens every morning.

“Then that evening, we have the Drag Me Across Saskatchewan Drive-In Drag Show that is touring across the province, making its stop in Regina. There’s two shows. One’s a bit more family friendly (at 7 p.m.), and the other one’s more 16+ (9 p.m.). It’s going to be drag artists, drag performers from here in town, as well as out of town, all performing on the stage.”

The outdoor drive-in show will take place in the old Superstore parking lot.

For those not yet comfortable with leaving the house, a variety of events can be enjoyed virtually from the comfort of their living room.

“(These events) include a games night and a trivia night, some educational content as well as some workshops that talk about queer history, harm reduction, LGBT families, and even pride in politics,” Shier said.

Other online events will include a trans artist showcase and dance party, a Minecraft dance party, digital drag shows and even a virtual potluck.

“In addition to online events, and kind of in between the real world and digital world, we’re also doing an audio walking tour that’s happening downtown,” Shier said. “There’s also a photo scavenger hunt that’s happening and different ways that you can take part in pride without having to gather in one place and you can kind of do it on your own time.”

For those wanting to show their pride support, the festival is hosting a decorating contest across the city.

“It’s a way to try and get visibility for the pride festival out there since we are all kind of stuck at home and limited in the ways we can gather,” Shier said. “So one way folks can get involved is to pride up your home, your office, or wherever you are.”

The festival will wrap up with the Queen City Pride Parade on June 12.