Saskatoon Pride

Saskatoon Pride
Truck at Saskatoon Pride 2023
StatusActive
GenrePride festival
LocationsSaskatoon, Saskatchewan
CountryCanada
Years active25
Inaugurated2001 (2001)
OrganiserSaskatoon Diversity Network
Websitewww.saskatoonpride.ca

The Saskatoon Pride Festival, commonly shortened to Saskatoon Pride, is an LGBT pride festival held annually in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Organized by the Saskatoon Diversity Network, a non-profit organization incorporated in 2002, the event takes place in early June each year.

In its current form, Saskatoon Pride was first held in 2001. Community groups in the city had held their own pride-themed events prior to this date, but 2001 marked the first time they were coordinated into a conventional Pride festival with a parade.

The event kicks off with a raising of the rainbow flag at Saskatoon City Hall on the Monday of Pride Week, and concludes with a parade and community fair on the Saturday.

History

The first LGBTQ+ event in Saskatoon was an unofficial Pride picnic held at Cranberry Flats on September 2, 1973, after the city council had rejected activist Bruce Garman's request for permission to hold an official Pride Week.

Metamorphosis

In 1978 the Saskatchewan Gay Coalition (SGC) hosted the first Metamorphosis, a four-day LGBTQ2S+ arts and culture festival held over Thanksgiving weekend. It began in October 9, with a march from the Gay Community Centre to the town hall on October 10, and culminated in a large Thanksgiving feast on October 12. The name was chosen to represent the growth of the gay community. Over time, Metamorphosis became notable for the high presence of lesbian activists and community leaders compared to other events. The festival would run annually until 1989.

In June 2026, Canada Post released a postage stamp honoring the Metamorphosis festival as part of a set of four stamps commemorating LGBTQ2S+ history in Canada.

Saskatoon Pride 2017

Clark speaking at the raising of the rainbow flag at Saskatoon City Hall, 2017

Mayor Charlie Clark was named as the grand marshal of Saskatoon Pride in 2017, becoming the first mayor of Saskatoon to do so. One group, unhappy that a heterosexual white man had been chosen as the Pride marshal, organized a separate parade called the Treaty 6 Real Pride March. This march was part of official festival and listed as the Global Pride March in the program.

Clark would make a statement on CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning, saying:

I understand the concern 'Does that make this about me?' or 'Am I trying to draw political attention to myself?' and that is absolutely not the intent. There's a line that you walk in a role like this where I'm not trying to take over and make this about me; I want to make it about the community.

— Charlie Clark

Co-chair of the Saskatoon Pride Festival, Danny Papadatos, said that the board of directors specifically asked Clark to be grand marshal so the LGBTQ2S+ community could see that civic leaders supported them.

Rainbow crosswalks

Crosswalk at 23rd Street and Third Avenue North on 7 June 2017

In 2017, a rainbow crosswalk that had been installed at the intersection of 23rd Street and Third Avenue North as part of the Pride Festival was defaced with black skidmarks two days after being painted. Volunteers repainted it the day after.

In 2021, a 71-year-old man was arrested for threatening a group of volunteers painting a rainbow crosswalk in Broadway Avenue in Saskatoon. The man shouted "homophobic and racist remarks" at the group and attempted to remove a barricade separating them from the street.

Saskatoon Pride 2026

Around ten thousand people attended the Saskatoon Pride Festival in 2026. The Official Opposition of Saskatchewan marched at the Saskatoon Pride Parade to call for the 2023 Parents' Bill of Rights to be repealed.

References

  1. ↑ "Saskatoon Pride Festival predicted to be largest ever held in Saskatchewan". Metro. June 7, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Religious groups support Pride Week". The StarPhoenix. June 8, 2013.[dead link]
  3. 1 2 "Documenting diversity in Saskatoon". Saskatoon StarPhoenix, June 18, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Flag raising kicks off Pride Festival". CBC News. June 10, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Saskatoon Pride Festival finishes with dancing in the streets". CKOM. June 16, 2012.
  6. ↑ Gorsalitz, Megan (2020). "Pride on the Prairies - Diefenbaker Canada Centre". diefenbaker. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Gorsalitz 2020, Metamorphosis.
  8. ↑ Bamford, Allison (10 June 2026). "Pride stamp commemorates early Saskatoon festival as attendees look back". CTVNews. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  9. 1 2 Bamford 2026.
  10. ↑ Bennett, Jocelyn; StarPhoenix, Saskatoon (10 October 2024). "Four-day gay convention Metamorphosis in 1978 in Saskatoon". StarPhoenix. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  11. ↑ "Commemorating the places and events that shaped 2SLGBTQIA+ history in Canada". Canada Post. 4 June 2026. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  12. ↑ CJME News (15 May 2017). "Clark first Saskatoon mayor to be Pride parade grand marshal". 980 CJME. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  13. ↑ Bridges, Alicia (10 June 2017). "Organizers of separate, 'real' Pride march oppose Saskatoon mayor as main parade grand marshal". CBC. Retrieved 15 October 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  14. ↑ Bridges 2017a.
  15. ↑ CBC News (19 June 2017). "Charlie Clark says role as Pride parade grand marshal not about getting 'political attention'". CBC. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  16. ↑ CBC News 2017.
  17. ↑ Bridges, Alicia (5 June 2017). "Hope turns to hurt after LGBT pride symbol defaced in Saskatoon". CBC News. Retrieved 15 October 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  18. ↑ CBC News. "Volunteers to repaint Saskatoon LGBT rainbow crosswalk". CBC News. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  19. ↑ Panza-Beltrandi, Gabriela (11 June 2021). "Man charged after 'homophobic and racist' disturbance at Saskatoon Pride event | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  20. ↑ Atter, Heidi (10 June 2021). "Homophobic incident at Saskatoon rainbow crosswalk shows need for Pride, says transgender man". CBC News. Retrieved 15 October 2026.
  21. ↑ Panza-Beltrandi 2021.
  22. ↑ Beherns, Ashley. "Annual Saskatoon Pride Parade draws crowd of 10,000 - Saskatoon | Globalnews.ca". Global News.
  23. ↑ Warren, Jeremy (29 June 2026). "Sask. Opposition slams school pronoun law at Saskatoon Pride parade". CBC News. Retrieved 15 October 2026.