The Western Canadian Pride Festival, held in Blackfalds, AB is becoming one of the most anticipated events on the yearly calendar for those who have become part of it. It is not just an “event” - it is a weekend of love, and an experience unlike any else.

Taking place on August (2010: A Gay Odyssey) and September (Theme TBD) long weekends, these getaways feature dances, meals, and activities, but you can also just relax by the fire. The festival is all about you.

“What is important is that it is not about going to the dances, or any of these things. Do what you want to do. The whole place is yours. We are so used to having to go and be entertained, we don’t know we can entertain each other,” organizer Leon Thompson told GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine.

The festival is still on a learning curve, one that went up sharply last August with much higher attendance than expected. Book early this year as the event will sell out.

“Last year we went way over the amount of people we expected, even with us putting a restriction on twice. This year there is definitely a cap on the tickets. We don’t want to grow too fast, and last year told us that we need to get some inner structure in place, not to control people, but so that there is more freedom. There is a cap of 300. The camp is a very important environment... It is a space that the community hasn’t felt before. We are trying to get more stuff...to get people to experience something that is not ‘gay’, so they can learn there is an experience besides gay. This is where we are going, to unconditionally love people. It is a challenge for me to do that for the four days, to just unconditionally love everybody. We have never had any problems. So how do you keep that going and safe? It has to be kept safe and the way to do that is to not grow it crazy. So this year will be a year to build inner structure and change. We are looking for property, looking at becoming a non-profit society.”

It is difficult to put into words. I’ve attended personally the last two years for the fall campout, and intend to be there again in September. Once you experience the weekend, you look forward to returning.

“We don’t need thousands of people, it is a place for 300. I appreciate feedback, because I am in the middle of it and it is hard to get people’s feedback from a neutral but honest view. It is terrifying to put on an event, if you are going to do anything in the community or life - you have to prepare that you will get stabbed in the back and that is ok, just keep going. I would love to see where the camp goes. I hope it turns into a festival. We have to introduce the idea first and then go from there. The idea is to have a small town in the middle of the camp that is all made up of you guys.”

With word of mouth come new faces who have listened to their friends talk about what a great time they had. It can be hard to keep track of everyone, Leon said.

“I feel like a guilty father.  Honey what is this kid’s name? There are only 300 of them. That is why we have the nametags, and when they come off on Sunday we are idiots.  Then it becomes, hey hon. How can you memorize them, you can’t. What I love about it is when we do the hugs, and they let us in...that doesn’t happen on Friday. It kicks in a bit on Saturday night what we are all about...heart to heart.  ...The camp is an opportunity for that.”

It is obvious from how passionately Leon speaks about the campouts what it means to him to give back to the community in this way. With every hug on the way out, with every smile, he knows that he is doing something special.

“One of the greatest compliments I got was when I was looking across the dance floor, which was packed. What was really great was that no one was using their cell phone. Not a single person was texting anyone. It was a huge compliment to have people just hanging out with people.”

“We have a bit of a bent against that as a gay community because we have had to push back against the straight community. The rights that we have fought for comes down to living like any other Canadian. As people go on in the camp and see [one another], it will be a different environment where everyone cares for each other. 100% why we do what we do is because of you guys. The response back to us keeps us going. We were doing fireworks one night and I turned to a friend and told them, if I died right now it would be ok. Everyone was laughing and having fun. It was perfect. That is why we do this.”