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Celebrate Your Awesome’s annual Pride event coming to Alexandra Park

June 8, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

Celebrate Your Awesome’s 6th Annual Pride and Diversity Day in Dufferin County returns to downtown Orangeville next weekend in an entirely new location.

Instead of being set up along Mill St., the festivities are moving to Alexandra Park and Second St. on June 17 from 1 to 10 p.m.

Another change this year is the consolidation of entertainment to one main stage instead of having it spread across two.

Live music, drag performances and dance numbers will take over the main stage for the duration of the event, where attendees are encouraged to let loose and be their true selves.

“It’s designed for everyone to be welcomed,” said Celebrate Your Awesome committee member Ricky Schaede. “Even people who don’t necessarily always feel welcome out at these public events, this is a chance for them to come and really be a part of it and celebrate.”

He added, “I think it’s a great opportunity to meet new people in your community, maybe make some new friends and connections.”

Over 50 vendors will be set up along Second St., including local artists, artisans, and businesses.

Several food trucks will be on-site as well.

Schaede said having more space at Alexandra Park for the Pride celebration will help to improve upon last year’s success.

He noted that the June 17 event is all about inclusion, diversity and acceptance – celebrating the things that make people unique.

“The most exciting part about this is just being able to show the community that people here are accepting. And I know there’s still lots of people in the community who aren’t, and there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done. But for me, the most exciting thing is creating a safe, inclusive space and letting the more marginalized people in the community know that they’re welcome here,” said Schaede.

The not-for-profit organization, Celebrate Your Awesome, started in 2018, and the name is about celebrating everything that makes people different.

“We thought about just calling it ‘Dufferin Pride’ basically, but we thought that Celebrate Your Awesome was a way to stand out, and make it like more broadly inclusive,” said Schaede. “We’re not just celebrating sexual orientation and gender identity; we’re also celebrating cultural identity or celebrating people of different ages. Basically, anything that makes people different from one another, we want people to come out and celebrate that.”

The event has steadily grown since its inception, with about 2,500 attendees in 2018 and roughly 8,000 people attending last year.

“It continues to grow by leaps and bounds,” said Jim Waddington, who founded Celebrate Your Awesome.

Schaede said he’d encourage everyone to stop by the event on June 17 and check out the festivities.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” he enthused. “Come check out the vendors, have some food, and watch some awesome performances. It’s just going to be a really fun positive vibe that I think everyone will want to be a part of.”

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