The sun will be shining in Vancouver all week for Pride week 2014!

Monday’s Pride festivities kicked off at 11 a.m.  yesterday in the City of Vancouver’s council chambers at City Hall, where speakers discussed the lives of LGBTQ refugees in Vancouver and across Canada. Following the discussion, the rainbow flag was raised at 12:15 p.m. on the north lawn and Mayor Gregor Robertson read a Pride Week proclamation. The City’s LGBTQ committee is hosting a community barbecue beginning at 12:45 p.m.

Organizers describe Vancouver’s annual parade as the fifth-largest Pride parade in the world and the largest single-day event in the city. The parade comprises 143 floats, an increase of just two over last year. However, organizers are expecting 800 additional marchers as the average size of the floats has grown. • This year’s parade will feature a “rainbow dragon,” a Pride take on the traditional Chinese symbol that has been created by Royal Pacific Realty ‘‘s dance team.

Pride Week: Events throughout the West End, including pool parties, fetish dressing, best-butt contests, bingo games with drag queens calling the numbers, Liberace impersonators, go-go dancers, rap queens, and for anyone who has any energy left, a recovery cruise Aug. 4. The LGBT nightclub Celebrities in Davies Villages also offers a marathon week of activities.

Sourced from an article in The Vancouver Sun

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/What+expect+from+Pride+Parade+2014/10063740/story.html

More information: Go to vancouverpride.ca