Fierté Montréal kicks off 18th edition of pride festival

The 18th edition of the Fierté Montréal Festival begins Thursday celebrating gender and sexual diversity and for the first time, the Pride Festival will be featured in part at the Quartier des spectacles.

This year’s event runs until Aug. 11 with an expected 240 artists representing the 2SLGBTQIA+ and diverse communities all across the city. 

For the first time ever, Montreal Pride will be featured downtown in Quartier des spectacles offering free shows presented at Place des Arts, Club Soda, SAT’s Satosphère, and at the NFB’s Alanis-Obomsawin Theatre, to name a few. 

Executive Director of Fierté Montréal, Simon Gamache says due to popular demand, it was essential to bring the festival to the heart of Montreal at the Esplanade Tranquille.

“We wanted to be present downtown, we wanted to have the 2SLGBTQI+ communities present downtown, show their creativity to Montrealer’s and all tourists to come to the festival,” Gamache said. “[So] that was a desire, there’s the village, the Olympic village, but being downtown, I mean there’s a symbolism to that, so we wanted to do that.”

Last year more than 450,000 people took part in the festivities. Gamache says part of their vision is to bring diverse voices to the forefront and highlight education on representation with the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.

“Sometimes you look at the acronym, the 2SLGBTQI+ acronyms, like ‘oh this is long, this is complicated, what does that mean’ that’s fine,” Gamache said.

“Come meet us, come meet the communities and you can ask your question directly and you know what, all the groups are there, they’re present and we’ll be happy to meet you, talk to you.”

The festival will also have concerts and comedy shows for free and will see Ste-Catherine Street filled with street art. A variety of Quebec, Canadian, and international based artists and entertainers will be featured.

Also celebrating the start of the pride festival, the Montreal police (SPVM) as they unveiled a squad car covered in rainbow colours on Thursday, along with a massive pride flag, draped along their headquarters downtown.

For some Montrealer’s, Denis Bouchard and Delonce Martin, Montreal Pride is a significant piece of the city’s fabric.

“One thing I think is to note that type of people who attend, you’ll see anybody from adults coming in from out of town, to people who live here, people with their families,” Bouchard said. “This is what the world is, it’s diverse, there are people of all colors, all varieties, all preferences,” he said.  

Martin says he has attended previous events and anticipates an extravaganza like no other with this years festivities kicking off.

“It’s good energy, it’s unlimited free energy, you can feel it, it’s almost palpable and it’s just, it’s uplifting, it’s free,” Martin said.

Gamache says the festival will feature concerts, comedy shows, drag shows, and parties around three Hubs, the downtown urban site, the Olympic stadium area and the Village.

As is the tradition, the festival will close out with the iconic Pride Parade on Aug. 11 on René-Lévesque Boulevard. The theme this year is “We Are the Rainbow!”

“It’s a big festival and we work with different organizations but first it’s about people,” Gamache said. “We invite everybody to come to the parade whether you’re marching or you’re along the street.”