“It was amazing to see so much love and support in Orillia. All of us agreed that it was one of the best days of our lives.” said Lake Country Pride board member, Celeste Lalumière.
Lake Country Pride, the organization that put together this parade, has as its roots an Instagram post by Celeste that she made last summer. “I attended the drag event at the library, and was so thrilled to see people come together. I always felt that Orillia had such a beautiful sense of community, but that queer visibility was missing. That night, I created the Instagram page and it grew from there – with folks following the page and people reaching out to get involved.”
Now with five board members, they decided to create a larger Pride presence in Orillia. They had never done anything like this before, and weren’t sure how it would all come together. There were many conversations with downtown organizations and the city to figure out all the by-laws, permits, street closing, and any other requirements needed for the parade.
To raise funds, one of the board members, Kristie, created a GoFundMe and shared it with the community. Within four hours, Lake Country Pride raised over $2,000, which fully funded the expenses for the event.
“Many local businesses donated, as well as community members. It was so incredible to see how much support there is for pride,” said Celeste. “We had lots of folks messaging on social media asking how they could help, and that they were so excited for the event.”
As the day of the parade drew closer, tension mounted as some of the requirements needed for the city to issue the permit allowing the event to go through were still pending. Luckily, the stars aligned and the permit was issued the day before the parade.
“I was so relieved to finally have it in hand,” said Celeste.
Lake Country Pride were hoping that about 200 people would show up. On the day, about 400-500 people ended up attending, showcasing the amount of support there is for events like this in the area.
“We hope to see a bigger pride event next year – to close the street all day and have vendors. I hope that the huge turn out and support we received is a clear message to the city that the people want and need pride in Orillia. This was all done by a small organization that has only been operating for 9 months, and was completely community funded.”
More information about Lake Country Pride, check out their Instagram page.
