What’s new this year?

For the last three years, the festival has been online and in hybrid mode. This year, we’re back with a festival that’s entirely in person so we can create a safe meeting space for the members of the 2SLBGTQI+ community and their allies. In addition, our series of talks and conferences (August 5 and 6) will also be available online.

You know, marginalized communities suffered a lot during the pandemic years. That’s true for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, especially trans and non-binary people. The challenges related to isolation and mental health have only increased. Holding an in-person event again is essential for the well-being of our communities.

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The parade on René-Lévesque Boulevard is a key initiative of Fierté Montréal.

What does the event represent for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community?

There are a lot of summer festivals in Montreal and we want to join the party. We have all the makings of a big event, like stages that can handle audiences of up to 20,000.

On the other hand, pride is more than a festival. It’s also an agent of social change, a way to raise awareness. We come together to remember and celebrate the social and legal advances of the local 2SLGBTQIA+ community through festive, social, political, community and rights-asserting action. In this sense, the community days in the Village (August 5 and 6) and the parade on René-Lévesque Boulevard (August 7) are key initiatives of Fierté Montréal.

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All of the festival’s big events are held on the Esplanade of the Olympic Stadium.

What can we expect from Fierté MTL in 2022 ?

Each year the programming gets more representative of our communities. We’ve been sure to program artists representative of the full range of diversity of 2SLBGTQIA+ persons as well as BIPOC (Blacks, Indigenous and people of colour). Inclusion doesn’t happen without representativeness. If you recognize yourself in the person on stage, you’re proud, you feel welcome and equality is being achieved. It’s the essence of the Fierté Montréal’s work. Our program is really rich in this way, including, as it does, Pierre Kwenders, Ariane Moffatt, Calamine, Sarahmée, Kahsennehawe Sky-Deer, Dave St-Pierre and Cœur de Pirate and allies like Diane Dufresne and Corneille.

We’re also continuing our eco-responsible shift. We’re being innovative around how the parade is organized, in producing our promotional material and in seeking out new local suppliers.

Last but not least, we’re holding the festival’s big events on the Esplanade of the Olympic Stadium. This will give us all the room we could ask for and the infrastructure we need to achieve our ambitions for Fierté Montréal.
We are also programming several cultural and community initiatives in the Village from Pride Week through Thanksgiving, a first for us.

For you, what’s the message of Pride?

For the 2SLBGTQIA+ community, Pride is a movement of coming together, being jubilant, raising awareness and remembering. Everyone is welcome to celebrate diversity in all its forms. If you’ve never been, you won’t regret going!