Gay Pride Parade

Every August, thousands of people come down to Vancouver’s West End to celebrate Gay Pride, in the annual Gay Pride Parade. With a wide range of events, from boat cruises, all-night dance parties, to the parade itself, Vancouver Pride week offers endless entertainment for those in the Gay and Lesbian Community.

Currently, the parade route heads from Denman Street to Pacific Street, and then along the waterfront heading towards Sunset Beach. With over 150,000 spectators, this event has gained considerable notoriety among much of the community, gay and straight alike. Each year the parade gets bigger and bigger, with more floats and spectators. There is consideration in the planning community, to change the route of the parade, to take a more central route through Vancouver, as the West End offers many steep hills which may prove to be a challenge for the floats.

2008 Gay Pride Parade

The 2008 Pride parade will be the 30th anniversary, and is expected to be the largest parade in history. This makes Vancouver’s Pride parade the oldest continual Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered in Canada.

The planned dates are from July 28th, 2008 to August 4th, 2008. The 2008 Pride Parade itself will be on Sunday, August 3rd, 2008 - once again on the same weekend as the HSBC Celebration of Lights.