Pride Winnipeg

4 | MAY 27 – JUNE 5 PRIDE Happy Pride! WAB KINEW he/him MLA for Fort Rouge wab.kinew@yourmanitoba.ca NELLO ALTOMARE he/him MLA for Transcona nello.altomare@yourmanitoba.ca UZOMA ASAGWARA they/them MLA for Union Station uzoma.asagwara@yourmanitoba.ca LISA NAYLOR she/her MLA for Wolseley lisa.naylor@yourmanitoba.ca BERNADETTE SMITH she/her MLA for Point Douglas bernadette.smith@yourmanitoba.ca MATT WIEBE he/him MLA for Concordia matt.wiebe@yourmanitoba.ca descending on Winnipeg to celebrate for the first time in two years. "COVID isn't done with us yet, so we're doing everything by the book with the feds, province and city," Karlenzig says. "We're going to use every inch of available space to spread things out more to make for a safer environment. The footprint will be larger, going from Izzy Asper Way to the Red River and from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to the old railway bridge across the Assiniboine River." All that extra space will be needed because additional venues are also going to be added, from new stages to a second beer garden, 27 to 30 food trucks (featuring cuisine from every province) and more. "The main stage will be sponsored by TD," he says. "There will also be a kids' stage, Canada Pride Stage, a Kids' Zone, and an Indigenous 2 Spirit field (programmed by Two Spirited People of Manitoba) that will host two days of specialized programming that will celebrate traditional ceremony, dance and culture. We're going to have artists from across Canada performing." Not to be forgotten is the fact that an FCP Human Rights Conference will be hosted by Pride Winnipeg and Fierté Canada Pride from June 1 to 3. "It will be held at the Radisson Hotel and will feature 40 speakers. There will be a youth conference, a Purge Fund discussion featuring the unveiling of a new exhibit at the CMHR and a gala on Wednesday night at the Winnipeg Art Gallery." Once Pride Week is kicked off at city hall at noon on May 27, Karlenzig and his team will set about doing two things over the following 10 days. "First, we want to strengthen ties with community allies," he says. "Second, we want to showcase Winnipeg and show we can put on a party as good or better than big cities. On Thursday (June 2), we're going to invite 300 delegates to see Winnipeg by going downtown to explore the city. Our goal is to put Winnipeg on the global map by making people want to come back to hold events." There's no question the festival is going to be a spectacular event, says Karlenzig. "Its impact is going to be huge. The Alt Hotel Winnipeg (the festival's host hotel) and Inn at The Forks are already at 90 per cent capacity and the Radisson Hotel is filling up. In total, we expect over 700 room nights to be booked. We're so excited to welcome everyone from across the country and internationally to Winnipeg this summer to join us in conversation and celebration." CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 ▼ "We're so excited to welcome everyone from across the country and internationally to Winnipeg this summer to join us in conversation and celebration. " – Barry Karlenzig, Pride Winnipeg president FRONTLINE PRIDE MANITOBA cupe.mb.ca

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