The Cowichan Pride Festival will be held June 21st beginning at 11am in the parking lot of VIU’s Duncan campus making its way along Duncan Street, through town to conclude at City Square with music and entertainment at noon. Applications for vendors, volunteers, and parade participants are open via their website.
The Cowichan Pride Society has been hosting their annual pride parade for four years and according to Entertainment Director Pax Elle, the festival has been growing ever since, with 500-700 attendees last year alone.
Elle says “It’s gotten bigger every year. The first year they had it, 400 people showed up and they were expecting 100.” The festival has been an important event to bring the queer community in the Cowichan Valley together.
The festival is also looking for local performers from the Cowichan area, including drag queens, Co-President Lily Scheske said. “It’s always a pleasure to have them here.” The festival will have two stages, one stage featuring performances from full bands, and a quieter stage with acoustic acts and poetry readings.
Those interested in supporting the Cowichan Pride festival can become members by donating $10 annually. Memberships help Cowichan Pride fund programs and events and members get discounted tickets for dances and other events.
Elle also runs weekly Pflag meetings at the Duncan Public Library every Sunday from 2-4pm. Pflag is a national charitable organization founded by parents who need help learning how to accept and support their 2SLGBTQIA+ children. People of all sexual orientations and identities, and gender identities and expressions, families, friends and allies are welcome.
Elle said the goal of these meetings is to “foster growth in our community by providing an area where we can talk and be ourselves.” They encourage new members to join and bring in new ideas. “If you want to make a change in the community, come see us.”
In the current political climate, there can often be pushback about hosting pride events like the Festival, but according to Elle and Scheske, Duncan Pride has received an overwhelming amount of support from the Cowichan community.
“As a whole, the city is supportive. I think it’s important to remember that it’s not just a celebration, it is also a march for our freedoms” said Elle.
“These events bring a lot of people together where you get to see just how big the community actually is,” Scheske said. In a small city like Duncan, it can be difficult to connect with other queer people and find support; it is the mission of Cowichan Pride, and Pflag to create safe spaces for them to feel seen, heard, and accepted.
Elle said, “One year we had an 80-year-old man come up to us during Pride and thank us. He had actually moved here from Vancouver, was out all of his life in Vancouver, and had to go back in the closet when he came here because there was nobody else and no services. So we decorated his walker and his scooter with Pride stickers and he was happy.”
The Cowichan Pride Society will be hosting their kickoff party at Red Arrow Brewing on June 6th with other events leading up to the Pride Parade on June 21st.
