This Sunday, tens of thousands of Calgarians are gearing up to celebrate Calgary Pride 2016 – with the largest Pride Parade our city has ever seen and a huge Pride in the Park music festival.

"This is a festival and a parade that is all about supporting diversity and inclusion in our community," said Stephen Wright President of Calgary Pride. "We want all Calgarians to come out, be themselves, wear whatever they want, breathe the same air as their neighbors, and celebrate together. No matter who you are, my message is: this is your year!"

For the second year in a row the entire Calgary Pride Festival is generously presented by ATB Financial:

"We believe everyone deserves happiness and acceptance and we're thrilled to show our support for the LGBTQ+ community," says Dave Mowat, ATB President & CEO. "We've created a rainbow-coloured 'Pride Walk' outside our branch on Stephen Avenue, and we'll be marching and dancing along the parade route on Sunday."

"There was so much demand for people to participate this year, we actually had to go back to the City and ask if we could make the parade bigger," said Wright. "They said ‘of course’ and made it happen."

Some key features of this year’s Parade:

- 4,000 parade participants

- 140 separate parade entries

- 60,000 spectators and attendees expected

- Parade Marshall is Rae Spoon – Calgary-born musician, and ambassador for the trans and non-binary communities

- Premier Rachel Notley will be participating in the Parade

When asked about the potential there might be some rain Stephen replied: "A little rain won’t stop LGBT rights."

The Parade begins at 12:00 Noon.