A weekend of Pride in Ottawa ahead of annual Capital Pride Parade

Capital Pride celebrations begin! Get a sneak peek at this weekend's festivities and events.

A weekend of events is in store as Ottawa celebrates Capital Pride Week, capping off with the annual Capital Pride Parade on Sunday.

Capital Pride Executive Director Callie Metler tells CTV Morning Live it’s been an exciting Capital Pride Week so far.

“We’ve had our family picnic to kick things off. We had a really exciting mini fest where we saw three Queer plays from Ottawa. So, we’ve just had a really exciting week going so far and we’re keeping that momentum up going into this weekend,” Metler said.

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Events this week include Thursday night’s Capital Pride Pageant and the pageant after party, which Metler said is one of the most highly anticipated events of this year.

“We’ve got a slew of amazing judges, we have Hercusleaze, we have Kiki Coe, and we have Capital Pride’s Grand Marshal for 2025, Miss Patience Plush, ready to hand out the crowns. We’ve got three titles up for grabs, Mr., Ms., and Mx. Capital Pride,” she said.

The event begins at 8 p.m. at Southam Hall in the National Arts Centre. Tickets are required.

This year’s theme for Capital Pride is ‘We are the Village.’

“We really wanted to focus on local community here in Ottawa, highlighting the diverse fabric that makes up the Ottawa-Gatineau region,” said Metler.

On Friday, Queen & Queer, a Montreal-based collective, is performing on the TD Main Stage at Bank and Slater. The Capital Pride Street Festival takes place Saturday all along Bank Street from Gladstone to Laurier.

After that, the weekend’s grand finale includes the annual Capital Pride Parade, which has a new route this year.

“We kick off from the same place, Elgin and Laurier, just as always, but his year we’re really excited that we’re going on Wellington, we’re going past Parliament, we’re reclaiming that important space of advocacy, of action, of protest in our Queer community and we’re heading back there for the first time since (Freedom) Convoy activities in 2022, so we’re really looking forward to making that a celebratory space again,” said Metler.

Metler said Capital Pride has 175 groups registered and more than 6,000 people participating in the parade this year, not counting the spectators.

“We’re expecting over 100,000 people to descend on the streets of Ottawa to celebrate with us on Sunday this week. We’re really looking forward to it,” she said.

The parade kicks off at 1 p.m. from Elgin and Laurier. After that, the post-parade Drag-A-Palooza party that kicks off at 4 p.m. at the TD main stage at Bank and Slater.

A full list of events is available at capitalpride.ca

Road closures on Sunday

The City of Ottawa says the following streets will be closed on Sunday for the Pride Parade.

• Bank Street will be fully closed between Slater Street and Gladstone Avenue all day.
• From 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.: Laurier Avenue West closed between Nicholas and Elgin Streets
• From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.: Elgin Street closed between Laurier and Wellington streets and Wellington Street closed between Mackenzie Avenue and Lyon Street
• From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Kent Street closed between Wellington and Laurier streets and Slater Street closed between Kent and Metcalfe streets