Two days of events will hit Kimberley as the local Pride Society gears up for the weekend.
Austin, Director of the Kimberley Pride Society said celebrating in smaller communities can go a long way to break down stereotypes, encourage acceptance and promote equality.
“It provides visibility, fosters inclusivity and fosters support networks for 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals in town who might otherwise feel isolated,” said Austin.
“Representation is quite limited in Kimberley and Cranbrook, so Pride events are crucial for affirming identities, educating other people and creating safe spaces.”
Austin said Kimberley has been a very welcoming community, but there are some blind spots.
“The reception for us has been very good, everyone seems really happy, but a lot of people who aren’t in the queer community don’t really know what’s going on, what we do, or what we want to create,” said Austin.
“We just want to create a safe space for everyone, whether you’re part of the queer community or not.”
The weekend of events will open on Saturday evening with a 19+ drag performance at Centennial Hall.
“We’re going to have three drag queens and a drag king, which is very exciting. We’ll have the show then we’ll keep the music going. We have a DJ this year, so we’ll have a little dance after the show,” said Austin.
The festivities will continue into Sunday with Pride in the Park from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Rotary Park.
“It’s a free event that everyone can come to. We’ll have a barbecue to raise money for the society, we have a whole lot of vendors this year, we have a bouncy castle for the kids, we do a dog costume contest with some prizes,” explained Austin.
“We also do drag races at the ball diamond. Teams of four will have a person at each base and you have to dress up in the attire we provide, run to the base, take all that off, have your other team member put it on and run to the next base. The team with the best time will get a prize!”
The Pride Society chose to host their festivities in September to avoid double booking with other local activities.
“There’s a lot of conflict with other events that Kimberley has planned every year, so we don’t want to pick a weekend where there’s something else going on and we could take away from others or force people to choose what they want to go to,” said Austin.
“When we did it in July, we received a lot of feedback from people saying they wanted to make it, but a lot of people go away for the summer. They’re out camping or going on vacation. This year, we decided to push it until after the summer break so everyone can come out and join.”
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