It was a positive atmosphere at the Sudbury Community Arena as members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community came together, out from the rain, to celebrate Pride.
Organizers had to scramble for some shelter on Friday after the forecast for Saturday changed and the city was expected to see thunderstorms.
"We were all rearing and ready to go be in the park today but as we were checking out the forecast, we saw it would be wet and we wanted to make sure everyone would have a wonderful dry time as possible so we reached out to the City and they told us the arena was available if we wanted it," said Kyelle Byne, the treasure for Fierté Sudbury Pride (FSP).
"We were so grateful for their support and made a game day decision to move into the arena."
This support come after FSP publicly expressed some dissatisfaction with the city bylaws concerning their previously cancelled Pride March.
Vendors, organizations and politicians set up their booths inside the arena. There were rainbow flags and messages of support from one side of the ice pad to the other.
"We are so proud of our team, our volunteers have been incredible," said Byne.
"People came in, we were all set up and on time and now we have an amazing line-up of artists who are going to be performing."
Officials with FSP said this week is an important to celebrate now more than ever.
"We’re here, we exist, trans-people exist, queer people exist. There is a wide spectrum of folks in the 2SLGBTQ plus community and it’s so rare to be able to see those groups be loud and proud as we would often like to be, we’re a very rambunctious group," said Byne.
"This is like a day where we’re like you know what, we’re here all year, today we get to be especially loud and especially proud to be here today and to continue pushing for the change that needs to happen for true equality to happen."
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Debbie Ouellette came all decked out to support the event as a mom. She was even wearing a rainbow-coloured lei.
"Being a supporter and a mom, having everything in a place where more people will attend since it will probably be raining, this is great how fast they whipped this up," she said.
Sudbury MPP Jamie West had a booth right beside the main door – the politician has been a regular at these events.
"Celebrating pride is always important," said West.
"I think this year especially because there has been a rise in hate and rhetoric and I think showing up and demonstrating that love overcomes the hate is important in our city."
Pride events continue tomorrow with a worship service at a united church, queer birding and a drag brunch at the Laughing Buddha.
A full schedule of events is available on FSP website or to stay up to date with the groups activities follow their Facebook page.
