Edmonton’s Pride Parade hits the streets after a 7-year hiatus.

Text and photos by Amanda Erickson/TheGriff

After nearly eight years, Edmonton’s Pride Parade made its long-awaited return this past weekend, filling downtown streets with rainbow flags and crowds of cheering spectators. The parade wound from Churchill Square to the Ice District’s event park and marked the first official Edmonton Pride march since 2018. Internal disputes led to its cancellation in 2019. In the fallout, the Edmonton Pride Festival Society dissolved, leaving a void in one of the city’s most visible celebrations of queer identity and political resistance.

The parade’s revival was organized by the Edmonton PrideFest association, which has been throwing pride events in the city since 2022. For many, the parade’s return is deeply personal. “I probably can’t swear, but I’m so freaking excited,” said Edward Punko, an attendee of the parade. For Punko, Pride is both a party and a chance to honour the lessons of the past. “It means a lot to me because it’s been so long since we’ve had one, but it also means even more to me that we’ve been able to approach it in a way that is respectful and recognizes what happened the previous time.”

In 2019, two local queer advocacy organizations, Shades of Colour and RaricaNow, presented a list of demands to the Edmonton Pride Festival Society (EPFS), aiming for a “well-funded QTIBPOC space at Pride.” They also hoped to eliminate police and military presence at the parade — something the same groups had protested during the 2018 parade. The EPFS board scheduled a meeting on April 4, 2019, to continue 10 months of ongoing discussions with the groups. Four representatives from RaricaNow and Shades of Colour were invited to the meeting, but around 30 supporters were present. This resulted in the EPFS board calling the police due to feeling “unsafe,” according to Clayton Hitchcock, co-chair of the Edmonton Pride Festival Society. Since then, the LGBTQ+ community has navigated shifting landscapes of celebration, fragmentation, and political challenges amidst changing policy in Alberta. 

“I think there’s a lot of fear happening and being spread about the queer community as a whole,” says Jake Palmer, a member of Edmonton Rage Hockey — a team focused on inclusivity in sports. “I think just showing up and showing that we’re not scary, and all of the issues that are being pushed to scare the public about the queer community, they’re not actually happening.”

Still, Pride’s revival comes at a complicated moment in Alberta history. The rise of legislation targeting trans and queer communities echoes global trends that many fear are rolling back hard-won rights. “It’s been a lot of years since we’ve had our last parade, and unfortunately, we’ve seen worldwide, and even in this province, a shifting in the direction of fewer rights for the 2SLGBTQI+ community,” says councillor Andrew Knack. “I think this is just a reminder that we need to speak up, we need to stand up, we need to support everyone.”

This year’s parade also highlighted community-building beyond the parade itself. From inclusive sports to grassroots advocacy, Pride’s return rippled out into the everyday lives of Edmonton’s queer residents.

For Punko, the meaning of the day remains joyful. “I’m excited to get my gay on. I’m excited to be excruciatingly homosexual in the public eye. And that’s kind of what today is about.”

No matter where the landscape takes the community next, Edmonton’s Pride Parade is stepping back into the public view at a moment when visibility and solidarity matter more than ever.