Montréal, August 21, 2012 — The 6th edition of Montréal Pride was, once again, a resounding success. Over the 7 days of events and festivities, attendance surpassed forecasts with more than 320,000 total spectators, which is an increase of 20,000 over last year. “The organizing committee would like to thank and congratulate all participants, spectators, volunteers and artists who made this 6th edition of Pride possible. We were delighted and very moved by the spirit of community and the festive atmosphere that was so prominent in the Village. We would like to also underscore the presence and involvement of our valued partners, particularly the TD Bank Group who, once again, was the presenting sponsor of Montréal Pride, and Viagra, the presenting sponsor of our 6th Pride Parade,” said Éric Pineault, president of Montréal Pride.
The success and popularity of the 2012 edition is due in part to the presence of our distinguished Honorary Co-Presidents, Jean-Luc Romero and David Testo, our spokesperson, Jasmin Roy, and our Guests of Honour, Line Chamberland, Kat Coric and Julie-Maude Beauchesne.
“We are proud to have offered a program with even more variety than last year, which enabled us to reach a broader audience, particularly women. We had something for people of every age, from the Kids Day to the Generation Boomer show. Our team rose to the challenge once again despite our limited budget of just over one million dollars,” noted Éric Pineault. Everyone can continue to support the festival in balancing its budget by purchasing tickets for a special prize draw. Tickets are just $5 and there is more than $10,000 in prizes to be won, from electronics to stays in hotels and meals in local restaurants. The deadline to enter is Saturday, January 26, 2013, and the drawing will be made on January 26, 2013, at 2 pm.
COMMUNITY DAY AND PARADE
Community Day on Saturday, August 18, was another big hit with 141 exhibitors set up along Sainte-Catherine Street East, including 112 community, labour and political groups. An impressive 70,000 people came to explore the diversity and dynamism of the local community.
The festivities wrapped up with the traditional Pride Parade on Sunday, August 19, under theme, “Our Flag, Our Pride”. A record crowd of 167,000 people lined René-Lévesque Boulevard to watch the parade, with its 3,000 participants, 101 contingents, 21 large floats, 38 smaller vehicles and 42 groups of marchers.
For this 6th edition again, the jury named winners who stood out in six different categories. The winners were:
“Most Crowd Pleasing Float”
Conseil québécois des gais et lesbiennes | web »
“Best Expression of the 2012 Theme”
ADA (Au delà de l’Arc-en-ciel) | web »
“Best Choreography by a Group”
À pieds levés | web »
“Best Costumes and Make-up”
Lez Elles | web »
“Community Float or Contingent of the Year” 2 Awards in 2012
Fondation Émergence | web »
Fondation Jasmin Roy | web »
“Corporate Float of the Year”
Loblaws | web »
“Special Jury Award”
Helem | web »
FABULOUS SHOWS WITH SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Once again this year, Place Émilie-Gamelin was the main site for Pride, breaking attendance records again with more than 79,000 people attending the 5 days of festivities. Audiences were treated to amazing shows like Génération Boomer, La Nuit d’Émily, Made In Québec, Dream Académie, C’est la Fête and many others.
Following the parade, spectators and participants gathered at Place Émilie-Gamelin for the Mega T-Dance, featuring DJ Mike Cruz (New York), DJ Charles Poulin (Québec) and DJ/Producer Mark Anthony (Montréal).
LGBT HUMAN RIGHTS COMPONENT
With this year’s theme of “Our Flag, Our Pride”, the organizing committee wanted to underscore the fact that, although many social advances have been made in Québec and in Canada, many LGBT communities around the world continue to have their human rights violated on a daily basis. To draw attention to these issues, this year’s program included a conference on LGBT human rights, which was held from August 14 to 16. Among the various conferences offered, Jean-Luc Romero presented, L’homophobie: une discrimination ordinaire ? (“Homophobia: an ordinary prejudice?”), examining the realities of homophobia in France and in Québec, and Andrea Zanin presented a look at the history of the women’s leather community in Canada.
Mr. Romero was also the recipient of the Claude-Tourangeau Award, which is given each year to a person or organization in recognition of their contribution to the fight against serophobia.
On Saturday, August 18, Nate Phelps, estranged son of Pastor Fred Phelps, gave a conference on what it was like growing up within the Westboro Baptist Church and the most controversial family in the United States.
CULTURAL COMPONENT
The Café des Arts, under the direction of curator Jean-Pierre Pérusse, brought together 9 artists who presented their creative interpretations of this year’s theme, “Our Flag, Our Pride”. The artists received 100% of the proceeds from the sales of their works.
For a first time, Montréal Pride presented Literary Pride (La fierté littéraire) from August 14 to 18. These evenings, hosted by veteran Radio-Canada journalist Denis-Martin Chabot, were a great success.
Another success in this year’s program was “Bathhouse: The Musical!”, an all-male burlesque musical comedy that was presented at the Cinquième Salle at Place des Arts from August 15 to 18.
FITNESS AND WELL-BEING ACTIVITIES
Friday’s Zumba activity and Saturday’s Yoga Mega-Session were also well-attended. And the first Pride Run took advantage of the beautiful weather to welcome more than 150 runners and walkers for the 5 km circuit through beautiful Mount-Royal Park.
The next edition of Montréal Pride, presented by TD, will be from August 12 to 18, 2013.
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Lynn Habel, Director of Communications
Montréal Pride
lhabel@fiertemontrealpride.com— Telephone : (514) 903-6193 ext. 3523 | Cell. (514) 833-2859
THANK YOU TO ALL OUR PARTNERS
Montréal Pride would like to thank all its partners for their invaluable support: the TD Bank Group, official presenter of the event; Viagra, official presenter of the parade; the Government of Québec; Ville de Montréal; Tourisme Montréal; the Borough of Ville-Marie; Trojan; Fugues; SDC du Village; Winners; Coors Light; Priape; Barefoot Wine; Fétiche Armada; Mojo; OutTV; Via Rail; Eska water; and our hotel partners, the Gouverneur Place Dupuis, Delta Centre-Ville, Lord Berri, Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, Marriott Courtyard Vieux-Montréal, Maritime Plaza and Nouvel Hôtel & Spa. Many thanks also to our fantastic media partners: Virgin Radio 96, Rythme FM, CKOI-FM, OutTV, GuySpy, Guide Arc-en-ciel, Les Tubbies, gaytravel.com, PINK, Gayradiobec.com; Touristiquement Gay, Proud FM, GayGuideToronto and Xtra.
About Montréal Pride
Montréal Pride was formed and legally founded under the name Célébrations LGBTA Montréal in 2007 as an initiative of Montréal’s LGBTA community, following Divers/Cité’s decision, in May 2007, to withdraw from the organization of the Pride Parade and Community Day. Montréal Pride is a community-driven, not-for-profit organization overseen by a Board of Directors consisting of members of the business community, local LGBTA associations as well as representatives from the event-planning and tourism industries.
TD Community Giving
TD invests in communities to make a positive impact where it does business and where our customers, clients and employees live and work. In 2011, TD donated over $66 million to support community organizations in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. In Canada, we focus on Education and Financial Literacy, Creating Opportunities for Young People, and the Environment. For more information, please visit TD Corporate Responsibility.