Capital Pride will celebrate 'Wherever We Are!' virtually during COVID-19 pandemic

OTTAWA — Capital Pride will be celebrated virtually “Wherever You Are!” this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Pride is not cancelled. Pride is never cancelled,” said Osmel Guerra Maynes, Executive Director of Capital Pride, adding the virtual Pride festival is a chance for everyone to celebrate Pride wherever you are “as a family.”

Capital Pride will be hosting a virtual festival August 21 to 30, with the theme “Wherever We Are!"

“We’re putting on virtual Pride. We’re putting on Pride that allows folks to feel part of the community. We may not be face-to-face, but we can celebrate who we are as people,” said Guerra Maynes in an interview with CTVNewsOttawa.ca

The virtual Capital Pride will feature both local and international talent. Organizers promise the official Flag Raising, Speaker Series, Capital Pride Pageant and the Pride Parade will be “delivered in new and innovative ways.”

While Capital Pride is still several months away, Guerra Maynes said with Ontario planning to extend its state of emergency to June 2, organizers decided to announce the move to a virtual Capital Pride now.

“What we want to ensure is that folks in our community are safe,” said Guerra Maynes.

“Even when coming out of quarantine, it still will be a bit hard to get people back together. This is a pandemic that is still ongoing, there’s many, many phases still probably due. With that, we want to ensure that the folks, especially in our community, are safe and are able to enjoy Pride bigger and better next year.”

More details about the programming for the virtual Capital Pride will be announced in the coming weeks.

Capital Pride is the latest Ottawa festival forced to change its plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Canadian Tulip Festival is currently being held online, while the RBC Ottawa Bluesfest, TD Ottawa Jazz Festival and Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend have all been cancelled this year because of the pandemic.