Hundreds of members of Cowichan Valley’s 2SLGBTQQIA+ community and their allies gathered to celebrate Pride Month in Duncan on Sunday.
Despite grey skies, marchers adorned in a rainbow of colours gathered at Vancouver Island University’s Cowichan campus, before walking up Duncan Street to Duncan City Square for the festival.
Cowichan Pride Society board member Pax Elle told the crowd it was “an honour” to attend, and urged the community to “stick together.”
“I know it’s been a really hard year, but we all need to stick together,” Elle said. “Pride started as standing up for our rights, and we can’t stop doing that.
“We are still here.”
This year’s event was the community’s third annual Pride parade, since the first march in 2023.
This year, the festival expanded its footprint to include vendors and stalls on Ingram Street, in addition to those on Craig Street.
Following the opening ceremony, audiences were treated to multiple drag performances and musical guests, before wrapping up at 5 p.m.
While most Pride events have concluded in the Cowichan Valley and Nanaimo, celebrations in the Comox Valley are scheduled for August.
The Discourse also attended Nanaimo Pride on June 8. See photos from that celebration here.
Here are more photos from Sunday’s Pride festivities in Duncan, taken by The Discourse’s Eric Richards:
