Pride celebrations take over downtown Montreal with parade

Thousands lined the streets of downtown Montreal for the Pride Parade on Sunday, wrapping up weeks of celebrations for the 20th edition of Montreal Pride Festival.

This year’s theme is “Shine Together”, a call to celebrate authenticity, visibility and community.

“Showing my pride for me made me more of an extrovert. I was allowed to express myself in ways I’ve never could,” said Benoît Légaré, Mr. Latex MTL 2025.

Winona J. Fox, a burlesque performer, said, “It changed my life because there’s nothing better than owning who you are and being yourself in your everyday life. Most of life is spent trying to hide yourself from other people. Something like pride, something like owning your sexuality, something like being out and visible is a great reminder that life is very short and that there’s no reason not to own who you are.”

Allies and members of the queer community marched side by side, waving flags and dressed in everything from glitter to colourful costumes. Community organizations, advocacy groups, unions, local businesses and companies also joined the celebration.

“I feel at home because in region we don’t have really that, people don’t understand that. So here I can be my full self,” said Carrie Constantineau. 

Evy Lajoie said, “It was really hard because my family would not accept who I was, but now since I’m a lesbian it’s a lot easier, and I come here in Montreal, because it’s more festive here in Montreal.”

The nearly two-kilometer march along René-Lévesque Boulevard traces Montreal’s 2SLGBTQIA+ history, from its former district in the west to today’s Village in the east.

“It’s important to celebrate Pride in 2026, just as important as it was to celebrate Pride in 1985. There’s still a need for us to be visible; there’s still a need for us to show that who we are matters, and who we are is very beautiful and to exist for so many others,” said Honey Davenport.

Fox added, “It’s still important to celebrate Pride because a lot of us are still suffering under a lot of biases, under a lot of legal discrimination that we did not ask for, that we are trying to fight against. Visibility is so important; Pride is so important.”

This year’s celebrations also come amid renewed concerns about safety following a deadly attack at Berlin Pride earlier this summer. Participants also observed a moment of silence in honour of the victims.

“I believe us embracing our identities and fully celebrating who we are. They’re not just our moments of joy, they’re not just our celebration, they’re actually our tools to dismantle systems of oppression. Us living authentically and fully and freely in our truth provides the space for so many others to do the same in a way that breaks the system,” said Davenport.

Sarto Berthiaume said, “Keep faith and be yourself. That’s the most important thing.”

A group of leftist LGBTQ+ activists, known as Wild Pride, also held a march, which started about an hour after the parade. 

In a statement, the organizers of Wild Pride said they want to bring Pride back to its roots by protesting corporate sponsorship, police presence and colonialism.

-With files from the Canadian Press