The fifth year of Jasper Pride Weekend was the biggest party yet.
That’s in part because organization of the event was taken over by the newly-created Jasper Pride Festival Society, which amped up its publicity efforts and revamped the festival’s lineup of events.
Jörg Michel, a spokesperson for the society, said close to 450 people attended the Gala Party and Drag Show on Saturday night. That’s about a hundred more than last year.
This year was the first time organizers moved the festival’s flagship event to the Beauvert Room at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge (the biggest venue in town), and Michel said they were thrilled with the results.
Between the jungle-themed decorations, the colourful lights and the catwalk—which was well utilized by the evening’s performers—Michel said the evening was Jasper’s best Pride yet.
“It was awesome.”
But it wasn’t just the room and the turnout that made it so great, it was also the entertainment.
Edmonton’s Guys in Disguise drag group, which has been attending the festival for the past four years, put on one of its best ever performances, pulling out all the stops with their costumes, dance moves and song choices.
Michel was particularly enthusiastic about the animal print get-ups the ladies wore for their last number, fitting themselves right into the evening’s “jungle fun” theme.
“What’s really mind blowing for us as organizers was how many people actually dressed up in a very, very sophisticated manner. There were so many people who spent so many hours to dress up for that event in the most sophisticated costumes you can imagine,” he said.
Michel was also thrilled to report that for the first time ever one of the festival’s events sold out, with the Fairy Tales Movie Dinner Theatre filling to capacity. That event went on alongside some brand new events this year, including a dress-up ski competition and barbecue at Marmot Basin.
Also raising the profile of the event was Mr. Gay Canada, Christepher Wee.
Wee made the rounds all weekend long, and said that Jasper Pride was one of the most unique pride events he’s ever attended.
He said, even for a pride festival, the sense of inclusiveness was incredible.
“You really feel a sense of community at the [Jasper] Pride, and it wasn’t just people from the LGBT community, it was everybody. I loved it,” he said.
He explained that at events like the gala he saw entire tables of people who weren’t members of the LGTBQ community, but had come out to support the event and have a good time—something that “you don’t see anywhere else.”
“The spirit of the community came across loud and clear—and I think it takes leaders to do that,” he said, adding that it is through the actions of people like Mayor Richard Ireland, who raised the pride flag above town, and businesses decorating for the celebration that that spirit is created.
Wee said there is certainly something special in Jasper, and that even if the Pride celebration grows to double or triple its size, he thinks that will still be the case.
For more photos from the event, check out “Jasper Pride Weekend” on Facebook.
Trevor Nichols[email protected]
