August is Capital Pride Month in Ottawa. With last year’s event held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year will be a combination of in-person and virtual events.

Capital Pride Festival will take place in the Nation’s Capital from August 22-29. The 2021 Capital Pride Festival presented by TD is themed “We Still Demand” to honour the first large-scale queer rights demonstration in Canada that took place back in 1971. This year will mark the 50^th anniversary of this historic protest.

This year’s festival will be building off of past educational programming and will include panel discussions on a variety of issues facing our community. The panel includes Dominique Jackson, star of FX TV’s Pose and Starz TV’s American Gods; Rodney Diverlus, a movement artist, performance maker, activist and co-founder of Black Lives Matter- Canada; Danny Ramadan, a Syrian Canadian award-winning novelist; and jaye Simpson, a two-spirited Oji-Cree of the Buffalo Clan with roots in Sapotaweyak and Skownan Cree nation who often writes about being queer in the welfare system, as well as being queer and indigenous.

The annual Parade will be presented virtually, which will include an opportunity for drag performers from all over Canada and the globe to perform on the virtual stage. The Pride Pageant will feature 11 competitors from the Ottawa region competing to be 2021 Capital Pride Royalty.

Capital Pride will also be hosting its in-person TD Spectacular event on the Great Lawn at Lansdowne Park on August 29. The event will include live and virtual performances, a beer garden and food trucks. Due to COVID-19 safety measures, capacity will be limited.

Looking for community resources in Ottawa? Capital Pride works to foster an environment for advocacy, education and inclusion.  To learn more about resources in your local community, click here.

To help expand Capital Pride Festival programming and support the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Ottawa, click here to donate.