Kelowna Pride celebrations postponed to end of October

The Kelowna Pride Society (KPS) has postponed its Pride Week 2021, which will now be held from October 22 to 30.

The Pride Festival and March in Kelowna will go on Saturday, October 30.

The society had planned to hold Pride Week in September, but organizers decided to delay the event as rising COVID-19 case counts in the Central Okanagan and subsequent health measures have created new challenges for holding the event.

After those challenges came to light, the KPS board voted in favour of moving the celebration with the hope that the end of October would be a more suitable and certain time.

“We were all excited for a September celebration, but as the dates drew nearer, we realized we had to pivot, yet again. On behalf of the KPS board, I would like to thank the community for their patience and support,” said KPS general manager Dustyn Baulkham in a news release.

“We’re hopeful that the end of October will be a great time for Pride — Pride on Halloween weekend will be a blast — and we hope those who feel comfortable doing so will join us to celebrate Kelowna Pride 2021.”

KPS adds it will uphold any health orders and directives related to COVID-19 during Pride Week celebrations.

The 2019 Pride event was the biggest in Kelowna’s history with over 12,000 people attending the festival and march.

In 2020 the celebrations were scaled back and some events were held virtually and live-streamed, and the KPS plans to do the same with a number of its events this year.

The Kelowna Pride Society added details of the events for the week of October 22–30 are still being worked out, and the events schedule will be released at a later date.