Thousands of people lined the streets of downtown Halifax on Saturday as the city’s annual Pride parade made its way through the core of the city with colourful floats and hundreds of people marching and dancing along the route. Organizers says there were more than 100 floats participating this year, making the parade one of the biggest yet. “We’ve maxed out our participation,” said Connor McKiggan, Halifax Pride Society board chair. “We’ve got almost 130 floats in the parade, and looking around, there’s an incredible energy here to celebrate Pride.” The Pride parade began almost 40 years ago, and although a lot has changed over the years, McKiggan says there’s still much discrimination and hate being directed at the LGBTQ2S+ community. “When the first Halifax Pride parade happened 39 years ago, people marched with paper bags over their heads because they were scared about what would happen if people saw that they marched in the pride parade,” said McKiggan. Nobody was wearing paper bags this year, instead it was a celebratory and joyous atmosphere with the thousands of people waving flags and showing support to the LGBTQ2S+ community. “I don’t see any paper bags, but it doesn’t mean that hate still isn’t real,” said McKiggan. “We’re here marching today because hate is real, and we need to stand up to show folks that they that there is queer joy, and when we come together, we can show folks that and anything is possible as queer people.” Beyond the celebration the Halifax Pride Festival, which runs until July 26, is a major economic boost to the region as organizers say it brings in nearly $4 million in economic activity. Attention is already turning to next year as Halifax is gearing up to host Canada Pride 2027, where it’s expected 50,000 people will attend the national event. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
