Montreal Pride Festival – August 9-15, 2021 LiveEvents August 4, 2021 1476 Montreal Pride Festival – Together for All! Major Performances The Montreal Pride Festival will broadcast its line-up of pre-recorded shows, on the Casino de Montréal stage of the Olympic Park Esplanade, including: Xcellence (August 11), FeminiX (August 12), MajestiX (August 13) and Cabaret Orgullo LatinX (August 14). To ensure compliance with health measures, some 2,500 tickets for each evening’s performance will be available free of charge at fiertemtl.com. Doors will open at 6 pm and the broadcasts along with animation and surprises will start at 7:30 pm with a presentation of the IconiX show, followed by the projection of the special performance of the evening at 8 pm, and a different DJ set every night. In addition, artists J4DE, Roxane Bruneau, Judith Lussier, Sarahmée, Katherine Levac, Safia Nolin, Aquaria, Alaska 5000, Jinkx Monsoon, Landon Cider and Trixie Mattel have been added to the festival’s program for a truly festive edition. “The announced relaxation of health measures has allowed our Montréal Pride Festival team to adjust our programming at the last minute in order to provide a space where our 2SLGBTQI+ communities can gather. The pandemic has adversely impacted our communities. The isolation of vulnerable persons, including those of our communities, was made worse with the division on social media was at its height and many of us had to assert themselves and do their coming out alone, through a computer screen. It was of paramount importance for our team to redouble their efforts to bring our communities together,” said Jean-François Perrier, Interim Director General and Director, Graphic, Web and Print production. Well-known artists will also be part of the festival’s programming including multidisciplinary Lebanese-Canadian artist J4DE performing in the Xcellence Show on August 11. The singing sensation that everyone appreciates Roxane Bruneau will be performing in the FeminiX show on August 12 with the unique Judith Lussier acting as m.c. The new IconiX event presented August 11 to 14 at 7:30 pm on the Casino de Montréal stage of the Olympic Park Esplanade, and again on August 14, at 9 pm on Montréal Pride’s Facebook page, will allow international drag stars Aquaria, Alaska 5000, Jinkx Monsoon, Landon Cider and Trixie Mattel to perform especially for their Quebec fans. Moreover, Safia Nolin and Katherine Levac both announced they will respectively participate in the 2fxfslematin (August 11) and Entre deux lèvres (August 12) podcasts. Artist, model and rapper Sarahmée will join in the Closing Night performance on August 15 which will be broadcast live on the Montréal Pride Facebook page. Pride March The Pride March, is back as an in-person event on August 15. The public are invited to assemble as of noon at Jeanne-Mance park for one of the first physical gatherings in support of the 2SLGBTQI+ communities since the beginning of the pandemic with participants marching along a new route! The event will be adapted to the current health context which does not authorize a Parade as traditionally held, and return to the roots of the Pride movement by handing back the public space to participating communities. Under the theme “Together for All”, this year’s Pride March with no vehicles, floats or contingents, will be focusing all the attention on the voices and opinions of our sexually and gender diverse communities so that their demands may be highlighted in a context where because of the pandemic, they had recently been made close to invisible. Starting at noon, participants who do not need to register in advance, will be welcomed at the assembly point in Jeanne-Mance Park, at the corner of avenues du Mont-Royal and du Parc, for the departure at 1 pm. Heading South on avenue du Parc, the March will continue to René-Lévesque Boulevard and turn East towards Atateken Street where it will turn left and come to an end in the Village, on Sainte-Catherine Street. At 2:30 pm, the traditional Moment of Silence will be held, in memory of the victims of HIV/AIDS and of homophobia. Banners, streamers, decorative and advocacy placards with messages of demands and claims will be authorized and even encouraged under the condition that the respect and safety of all be ensured. “For some years now, the Festival’s team has sought to highlight the spirit and the community contributions of the various 2SLGBTQI+ communities and this year, the pandemic has somewhat imposed it on us. The first demonstration in favor of the Montreal 2SLGBTQI+ communities’ rights was held in 1979, organised by the Pink Brigade and its founder John Banks with 52 marchers participating. It is therefore with great pride that we confirm not only the holding in its original march form of the most mobilizing event of the Festival but also of a unifying activity open to all that will allow the advocacy and community aspects of the festival to shine,” says Jean-François Perrier, Interim Director of the Montréal Pride Festival. In order to abide by the health rules in place, the use of masks is recommended and several teams will be deployed to ensure the safety of all festival goers in every respect. About the Montréal Pride Festival Since 2007, at the initiative of Montreal’s 2SLGBTQI+ communities, the Montréal Pride Festival has been promoting their rights and celebrating their cultural richness and social advances. The largest gathering of the sexually and gender diverse (SGD) communities in the Francophone world, it works locally on a daily basis while serving as a beacon of hope for people living in 2SLGBTQI+ hostile regions of the globe. In 2020, the festival produced a 360 Edition with all of its festivities presented in a digital format in compliance with health measures in place then. In 2021, the festivities are being held from August 9 to 15 and will present a hybrid program mixing in-person physical events with virtual presentations. More information is available at www.fiertemtl.com
