You’re invited to show your PRIDE this weekend. Campbell River’s annual pride event – CR Pride – returns for its sixth year tomorrow (Saturday) in a virtual format.
In a partnership between the Tidemark Theatre and the North Island Pride Society, CR Pride 2021 will be held online through Tidemark’s website and Facebook page. Drag queens Peach Cobblah and Isolde N. Barron are on tap to host this year’s events.
‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ is kicking things off at 2:30 pm, and the Tidemark is calling it a free, fun, and inclusive half-hour offering kids a ‘glamorous’ and ‘positive’ take on queer role models.
Then from 3:00 pm until 3:15 pm, ‘Home Is A Drag’ aims to remind kids and their guardians that it’s never too early – or too late – to get silly and dress up.
But the fun doesn’t stop there, organizers note. The Tidemark says Cobblah, Barron, and DJ Spinintonic are hosting a dance party for families filled with drag and costumes. That’s happening from 3:15 pm until 4:15 pm.
Last year’s events were held online as well due to the pandemic. At the time, Anne-Marie Long, LGBTQ2S+ consultant at the Foundry – Campbell River’s peer support and social services agency for youth – told Vista Radio that COVID was disproportionately hard on the LGBTQS2+ community.
“Particularly for young people who may be social-distancing at home where they don’t feel free to be themselves, that can be a challenge,” she said. “It can be a challenge for anyone not to be connected to their community.”
Amid COVID, Long said organizers still wanted to put on a Pride event specific to Campbell River, Quadra Island, and the entire North Island.
All CR Pride 2021 events are free and can be accessed via the Tidemark Theatre’s Facebook page or through their website.
