Melanie Tremills received plenty of favourable feedback after last summer’s Pride Halton Parade in downtown Milton.
Much of that centred around an indirect – but clearly heartfelt – request.
“We put out a community survey (afterwards) and the most prominent result of that was that people wanted somewhere to go after the parade,” said the event organizer and founder/chair of PRISM Halton, a supporter group for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. “We had a drag show, but that wasn’t enough.”
Addressing the call for an expanded celebration, Tremills and her team will be adding a post-parade Pride in the Park festival at the fairgrounds on July 20.
Complete with live entertainment, a kids’ zone, a community market, food vendors and a beer tent, the festivities will run from 3 to 8:30 p.m. and are open to everyone.
The night will be capped with a ticketed 19-and-over drag show in the fairgrounds’ hall.
The parade itself – started in 2023 – will once again be held at 2 p.m. between downtown Main Street’s two rainbow crosswalks, with a vendor market returning in the starting area’s parking lot.
“It’s going to be pretty big,” said Tremills. “We’ve always envisioned this (a day-long celebration), but we obviously had to start with the parade. The first two years were incredible. Each year it seems to be growing bigger and bigger.”
While there’s been some who’ve expressed hope for rotating the parade between the region’s four municipalities, Tremills feels changing sites would hurt the event’s momentum.
She’s now in the process of securing sponsorship and applying for grants, hoping that more businesses and associations outside Milton come on board.
Those interested in supporting the parade and festival – either financially or as a volunteer – can visit either prismhalton.com or pridehalton.com, or email [email protected].
Those looking to help out on event day can also reach out on Volunteer Connector.
While a celebration of this scale was always the hope, Tremills is especially encouraged by how quickly it’s come to life.
“I’m loving the traction it’s taken. It’s moved faster than I thought it would. The traction is incredible. People are so interested in being involved. They want this to be more than just a parade. And that’s exactly what we’re here for.”