TRANScend with the community at the Pride Winnipeg Festival, which is back for another season from May 24 to June 2, 2024.
For 37 years Pride Winnipeg has been serving and celebrating the city’s GSRD (gender, sexual, and relationship diverse) community, having staged the first Winnipeg Pride in 1987. Over the years the community has marked many milestones while this is an exciting year for Pride as the one and only Begonia headlines the main stage!
This year’s theme is “Transcend Together,” which symbolizes the strength and unity within the queer community, as well as the resilience of trans individuals advocating for the protection of trans rights.
Last year saw the largest Pride Parade in Winnipeg’s history, with about 10,000 people celebrating and participating. This year’s Pride Festival promises to continue to operate in an accessible, sustainable, inclusive and diverse fashion, all while hosting so many fun events here on Treaty 1 Territory: the traditional lands of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Dakota and Dene Peoples, and the homeland of the Red River Métis. Here’s just a few of the events happening from May 24 to June 2 during the Pride Winnipeg Festival, along with numerous community events that take us to and through the Pride Festival.
Raising of the Pride Flag – On May 24, come see the Rainbow Flag being raised at City Hall to mark the start of the celebrations.
Parade & Rally – The big rally and parade, which annually features thousands of participants, takes place on Sunday, June 2 at 10 a.m. It starts at the Manitoba Legislature for the rally, with the parade then moving down Broadway before ending at The Forks where you can continue to take part in all the festivities.
So many participating venues! – There are numerous spots to take in Pride activities before and during the festival. If you look on the Community Events Page, you’ll see The Metropolitan is hosting its Saturday Night Pride. Get ready to sparkle and dance the night away from June 1 to June 2. You won’t want to miss the fabulous Venus, the winner of Canada’s Drag Race season 4, who will be headlining Winnipeg’s biggest 2SLGBTQ+ party of the year!
So many things happening at The Canadian Museum for Human Rights – Kendall Gender, a Canadian drag sensation and a finalist in Canada’s Drag Race season 2, will be performing on Friday, May 24 alongside Beyond the Beat. The show is promised to be akin to Beyonce’s Renaissance world tour – so get ready to be blown away. Doors open at 8 p.m., show starts at 9 p.m., and don’t miss the afterparty at 10:30 p.m.!
Synonym Art Consultation’s 4th annual GORGE Festival presents three must-see events! – Along with making the walls of Winnipeg so much brighter, Synonym Art Consultation continues to put on some of the coolest events in the city –– particularly during Pride! Their annual GORGE Queer Arts and Drag Festival runs throughout Pride, and all three events this season are blockbusters.
The first GORGE event will be the unveiling of a new mural by artist Jes Coverini at Willow Press (214 Osborne Street) on Friday, May 24 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. This free art party will feature drag performers, a silkscreening printing workshop, and of course, much merriment. It’s also open to people of all ages.
From there, GORGE will be taking over parts of The Forks with two massive and fabulous events. Their legendary Drag Brunch (just check out these pictures from last year!) will once again take over The Common side of The Forks Market on Sunday, May 26th, from noon to 3 p.m. No admission is required, and all ages are welcome to watch some of the city’s top drag queens sashay and crack jokes while the market’s food kiosks will also be cracking plenty of eggs while serving special brunch menus.
Then, on Friday, May 31st, in The Forks Event Space (room 201) from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. it’s the 18+ GORGE X CLUSTER Hyperfemme Galactica event –– an exploration of the legacy of queer Ballroom culture through performance, fashion, drag, music, and discussion. This event, by and for the 2SLGBTQIA+ art community, imagines the future establishment of a Kiki Ball scene here on Treaty 1. The evening culminates with an audiovisual installation and DJ set by Konjo, presented by Cluster Festival. Limited tickets will be made available for $20 in advance, with a pay-what-you-can option.
What’s happening at the Manitoba Museum – Leading up to the Festival, Manitoba Museum is hosting “If These Walls Could Talk: 50 Years of 2SLGBTQ+ Activism in Winnipeg” in collaboration with the Rainbow Resource Centre. From now until June 23, you can see this exhibition that aims to provide a better understanding of the issues the community has faced over the past 50 years in Winnipeg.
Getting sporty – Get out your joggers and run with pride – Winnipeg Pride Run is back at The Forks on June 1! The event is open to all abilities and has 3K and 6K trails. Don’t forget your sunscreen and water!
Weekend-long Festival at The Forks – The largest Pride gathering always takes place at The Forks throughout the weekend. Starting Saturday (June 1), there will be beer gardens, fun times, and of course, so many great headline acts on the stage and plenty of performances on the Kids Stage.
To keep up-to-date on all things Pride Winnipeg, download its new app here on linktree, where you can also find more events, merchandise, and so much more. For more tourism info go to our 2SLGBTQ+ website.
