Central Alberta Pride is excited for the upcoming Red Deer Pride Festival. The city will join together for the Pride Kick off celebration and mayoral proclamation at 5pm on Friday, August 15th, downtown in City Hall Park.

Friday evening brings Drag-Apoca-Lips, an epic drag Kings and Queens performance at The Vat (5301 43 St). This event will start sharply at 8pm, but Co-Chair of Central Alberta Pride, Tony Jeglum, advises to arrive early as last year it was standing room only by that time.

On Saturday afternoon Pride-goers and community members are invited to participate in the Fruit Float. This free, family-friendly event offers fun for all ages. Patrons are encouraged to meet at McKenzie Trails to drop off the bulk of cars, then venture to Ft. Normandeau as a group and get boats inflated and the river float started! This is the perfect way to spend a humid August afternoon. A Facebook page has been set up and patrons are encouraged to follow the Fruit Float for more details.

Saturday evening Kate Reid and The Dirrty Show are performing at Fratters Speakeasy (5114 - 48 Street). Tickets are $20 and available at Fratters, CAANS and 53 St Music. This event promises to deliver laughs and a wicked, fun evening.

Kristol Gallivan of Red Deer Pride shared with GayCalgary what makes these events so fantastic. There is simply nothing else like it in Red Deer and Central Alberta. There are so few opportunities to meet new people and become involved in the community other than Central Alberta Pride.

"We brought in the always-wonderful Kate Reid for a Red Deer first for her, and we hired local talent, The Dirrty Show, who are always amazing," she said. "We receive feedback saying our pride is nothing like all of the other prides in Alberta as well. I am most eager for Kate Reid with The Dirrty Show because I love the venue and the performers. It will be a great weekend, both for the community aspect I mentioned and because it’s so much damn fun!"

Sunday will have a Pride Church service at the United Church in Lacombe (5226 - 51 Avenue) at 10:30am. This is the only event that is not happening in Red Deer. In fact, it marks the first venture out to expand into Central Alberta.

And finally, Sunday afternoon will end Pride with a bang. A community BBQ will begin at noon in Rotary Recreation Picnic Site. This event is a great opportunity to share laughs with new friends and celebrate wonderful people, coming together.

Central Alberta Pride would not be possible without the community and its sponsors: TD Bank Canada, Sandman Hotel Red Deer, GayCalgary Magazine, Babycakes Cupcakery, Central Alberta AIDS Network Society, and Mr. Mikes Red Deer.

Tony Jeglum, Co-Chair of Central Alberta Pride, is ecstatic to celebrate another year of Pride in Red Deer.  This event is very important to our community because it is occurring in a city that is not an urban metropolis, he says.  In the last five years we’ve seen Pride celebrations occurring in smaller towns - the tiny Peace River celebrated their second Pride this year as well.  This shows we have come a very long way.

But there is still reason to keep the celebrations going, because Pride events help to create a sense of togetherness and belonging, make the LGBT community visible, and address homophobia where it exists.