What to know about Edmonton’s Pride Parade on Saturday

For the first time in seven years, a Pride parade will wind its way through downtown Edmonton.

The Edmonton Pride Parade is back for the first time in seven years to take over downtown on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. – Here’s what you need to know about the event.

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The parade is part of Edmonton’s larger Pride Festival, which runs the entire weekend of Aug. 22-24 and includes an 18+ concert and party on Friday, the parade on Saturday, and a brunch sing-along on Sunday with drag queens Alaska 5000 and Willam.

Road closures

The parade will start in the southeast corner of Churchill Square, dance through downtown and end in the northwest corner of Fan Park at Ice District.

Full road closures along the parade route begin at 10 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m. A media release on Thursday said the city anticipates a large turnout.

The road closures for Saturday are:

• 99 Street, between 102 and 102A Avenue
• 102A Avenue, between 97 Street and 99 Street
• 100 Street, between 102 and 103 Avenue
• 101 Street, between 102A and 103 Avenue
• The intersection of 102 Street and 103 Avenue
• 103 Avenue, between 100 and 103 Street
• 104 Avenue, between 101 and 103A Street
• 102 Street, between 104 and 105 Avenue

Transportation

The city suggests using public transit or alternate ways to get around the area, like shared e-bikes or e-scooters. There is no parking available in the above areas, and vehicles may be tagged and towed.

The Walterdale Bridge will also be reduced to one lane between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. for the Do North Tri and Trail – so expect delays there as well.

Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) buses will be impacted starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Bus routes 1, 7, 9, 110X, 111, 523, 701, 900X and 901 will be on detour.

ETS expects routes to return to regular paths by 4 p.m.

ETS recommends riders use the Capital Line, Metro Line or Valley Line Southeast LRT to travel to and through downtown.

A full list of detours can be found on its website.

Parking

The City Hall parkade will be closed to the public on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The parkades that will be open are:

• Bell Tower
• City Centre West
• Precise ParkLink
• Century Place
• Edmonton Tower
• ICE District Central Parkade

More details, including a route map for the parade, can be found online.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Alex Antoneshyn, Matt Woodman and Andrea Venne