Pride Montreal 2009: The Parade, The Party
Pride Montreal celebrations are about to kick off this Thursday, August 13, 2009 and no pride party would be complete without a parade, and the 2009 Pride Parade is a Sunday must, scheduled to start on August 16 at 1 p.m., at the corner of De Lorimier and René-Lévesque.
I actually had the honor of being in the parade a few years back when Pride was Divers/Cité (or when Divers/Cité was Pride), sharing The Mirror float space with several pom poms, a dozen non-gay folk, the also not gay Quebec superstar singing sensation turned TV personality, Mitsou, and the float's sole LGBT representative, a gay-but-not-convincingly-gay-enough-to-be-allowed-entry-into-K.O.X.-nightclub friend who shall remain nameless. The Mirror brought in the Gayrobics team for support, and what an experience! It was almost too fun. It was also hard to say who or what was more entertaining: the parade or the crowd.
Pride 2009 highlights, apart from said procession, include the marking of 1969 Stonewall Riots' 40th anniversary, French and English presentations of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, art exhibits, a comedy show, free performances by Omegadom and Les Porn Flakes, and a post-parade dance party featuring DJs Stéfane Lippé, Mark Anthony and Oscar Velazquez.
Comments
I wouldn’t want to get back into K.O.X. again anyways. Good times on that float, good times….
Josh!!! Wow! What a great surprise! Ladies and gents, meet the star of The Mirror float! How are you??? You can reach me montreal.guide@about.com.
And for visitors wondering about this infamous club named K.O.X., it is no more. But here are a few gay village hot spots you will definitely want to check out during Gay Pride: http://montreal.about.com/od/neighborhoods/ss/gay_village_8.htm .