WinSport, in partnership with Calgary Pride, is excited to announce that the WinSport Pride Slide will be the public kick-off event for the 26th annual Pride Week.
This new 18+ event celebrates and promotes a community free from discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation through an outdoor festival, which includes a giant 810-foot wet slide, entertainment from some of the city’s top DJs, a cocktail garden and performances from glittery dancers and high-heeled drag queens.
WinSport’s Pride Slide takes place on Aug. 27 from noon until 11 p.m. at Canada Olympic Park. Tickets for rides down the slide include the inner tube and slides during a two-hour window. Pride sliders can then groove to the music and take in the entertainment before heading to on off-site after party. Tickets are available at ticketmaster.ca, with a limited number of early bird tickets available for $69.99 (a savings of $10) for three slides and admission to the festival. In addition, VIP passes are available for $99.99, which includes five slides, a fast-pass line up, access to VIP areas, prime location by the stage, a private lounge area and a shuttle ride to and from Crowfoot station. Complete ticket details are available at www.winsport.ca/prideslide.
"As an organization proud to foster LGBTQ inclusion in both community and sport in partnership with the Canadian Olympic Committee’s One Team Initiative and You Can Play, WinSport is truly excited to host the Pride Slide on our campus to celebrate gender and sexual diversity for Calgary Pride Week," says WinSport President and CEO Barry M. Heck.
WinSport has made several recent advances in promoting LGBTQ inclusion.
"We are proud to support a gay men’s team in our WinSport Hockey Canada League and we have recently implemented LGBTQ awareness into our camp counsellor training program," says Kim Jones, WinSport’s Vice-President and General Counsel, who was recently appointed an ambassador for You Can Play. "The Pride Slide is one more example of WinSport’s commitment to creating a place where everyone is welcome."
Joining the festivities are Pride Slide ambassadors speed skater Anastasia Bucsis and bobsledder Simon Dunn. Bucsis, a two-time Olympian, came out during the 2013 Pride Parade, while Dunn is an aspiring Olympian with the Australian team and the first openly gay man to represent his country in bobsleigh. Dunn is also a member of the WinSport Guest Services team when he isn’t training.
"Being an openly gay athlete myself, the importance of WinSport holding such an event is paramount," says Dunn. "Along with top athletes giving their support, this shows the greater community that LGBTQ athletes are not only welcome but valued participants in sport."
The Pride Slide is just one of more than 30 events that are being held as part of Calgary Pride Week’s celebrations.
"This initiative is a fantastic way to further promote an open and accepting community free from all forms of discrimination," says Stephen Wright, President of Calgary Pride. "WinSport has shown real leadership in promoting LGBTQ inclusion in sport and this new Pride Slide and Festival is an amazing way to take that support even further into the community. To every Calgarian, our message is: come to WinSport, celebrate diversity, slide down the enormous Pride Slide and join the party. Because a society that celebrates diversity, is also a fun society."
Other Pride events include the famous Calgary Pride Parade on Sept. 4, 2016, at noon to 1:30 p.m. on 9th Avenue. It is Canada’s fastest-growing pride parade, with upwards of 60,000 annual spectators and participants. In addition, the newly expanded Pride in the Park music festival will take place on Sept. 4 from 12:30 to 6 p.m. at Shaw Millennium Park, at 1220 9th Ave SW. It is a free outdoor cultural celebration with live music, activities for youth and children, and a local marketplace.
