The only winter Pride in the Canadian Rockies is right around the corner. Jasper Pride is getting ready to host their eighth year. Last year was extremely successful, bringing close to 1,000 people into a town of just over 4,000, and has shown that Jasper is a welcome host to the LGBTQ community year after year. For a small Pride, they have managed to secure over 50 sponsors that are local, as well as provincial and national.

This upcoming year the theme is "Proud and Free", in celebration of Canada’s 150th Birthday.

GayCalgary spoke to Jordan Tucker about Pride 2017. "This year’s festival will host annual events such as our Kick Off Party, Jasper Brewing Co. Beer Launch, Ski Day and Fun Run with Marmot Basin, Ice Canyon Walk, Signature Proud & Free Gala Party, and the Sunday Brunch. Mountain Monsters and Matinee Movies with Fairytale Film Festivals is also returning, and we have been successful in adding new events such as a yoga class, a DJ party, and have enhanced our Friday evening events with a double feature, signature presentation of Burleque and Boylesque followed by a Lum-BEAR-Jack Party and Girls’ night out with a Drag King Show."

Queer youth and families are important to Jasper Pride. "A special piece to our festival is to include family and young adult events such as the Annual Stories, Song’s and S’mores event for families, and we have enhanced our young adult event on Friday evening in support of the growing Gay-Straight-Alliance locally, and also visiting teens. This year’s event will feature a workshop called Expanding your Alphabet, which is facilitated by the Pride Centre of Edmonton. Fairytales Film Festival will introduce a touching documentary In the Turn, while the teens enjoy a pasta dinner.  In addition to this, the Jasper Pride Festival Society has sponsored Camp FYrefly to come to Jasper to facilitate workshops with the junior and senior high school, and has also worked to present the Proud & Free Party Performers with a feed into an adjacent function room for a teen friendly party."

We asked Jordan about several changes and additions from prior years. "We have taken feedback from those who participate in our annual survey on the festival, to evaluate what was enjoyed, and look for opportunities to include new events and activities based on what participants are looking for. Many love to participate in the downhill skiing events, but there are also many who are looking for non-ski adventures or more relaxing activities, and also events that did not have such a ‘party‘ feel. We added the Mountain Monsters workshop – which is a mountain pillow making workshop – yoga, a breakfast co-hosted by the Pride Centre of Edmonton, full-moon hike, and also beginner ice climbing. We have always balanced our festival with elements of ‘Jasper’, so that participants have opportunities to enjoy what they love best about our rocky mountain town, and customize their stay to the activities and events they enjoy the most. We looked for opportunities to change up a few events that were newly launched over the past year to position them for a better success, such as a date change with the Ice Climbing event and transitioning a coffee house event to a Saturday morning breakfast, when we see an increase in visitation. We strive to balance the overall schedule of events to provide participants a variety of options."

From 2013 to 2014, Jasper Pride had four flags hanging in the town. Over the years, they have been able to increase that number to over 90 flags hanging along Connaught Drive, the main road in Jasper. This will be a great site to see with the Rocky Mountains in the background.

Jasper Brewing Company will be launching two different beers for Jasper Pride designed to match the 150th Birthday Celebrations: a red rye lager and a white wheat ale. There will also be a limited addition Proud and Free Pride toque, which is knitted locally.  Due to high demand, Jasper Pride is launching a new website people can order official Proud and Free Merchandise, where proceeds will go back to the Jasper Pride Festival Society.

One of the outdoor activities that has been extremely popular has been the Ice Canyon walk. We checked with Jordan to see if it is possible to have it expanded since it is sold out every year. "We have been able to expand the Ice Canyon walk to its maximum, however, winter activities do incur some restrictions to size of groups and times of day with Parks Canada regulations and permits, which are in place both to protect people, but also the land and wildlife of our beautiful National Park. Due to this, at this time we are not able to expand, and also do not want to position additional time slots against other events to balance the official schedule of events."

Also popular is the Mountain Monster’s Workshop. "It started with two locals, Megan and Elliot, who worked on building the program in conjunction with The Friends of Jasper National Park as part of an Experiential Tourism workshop. When the festival reviewed requests that aligned with this type of an event or activity, we felt it was a natural step to reach out to the Friends of Jasper National Park, another non-profit organization, to see what types of activities or programing could be considered. Thus launched a unique family-friendly workshop where participants build their very own mountain monster – a playful mountain pillow, each with its own face – with a spin for the pride festival to include a colourful rainbow. A wonderful keepsake to brighten up your home!"

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Contributor Steve Polyak |

Locale Jasper |

Topic Gay Pride | Jasper Brewing Company | Jasper Pride | Maligne Canyon Ice Canyon Walk | Ski and Snowboard |Sundog Tours | Travel |

Photo Gallery Jasper |Travel |