Pride Niagara’s annual “Pride in the Park” event was removed from this year’s line-up of local Pride activities after unsuccessful attempts to partner with the City of St. Catharines.
On Jan. 29, Pride Niagara’s Board of Directors posted a press release titled “Restructuring Pride Niagara Festival 2025” where they outline changes coming to the St. Catharines Pride Festival this year.
The release prefaces that Niagara’s 2SLGBTQ+ community has faced increased levels of discrimination and hate-based violence in recent years, posing challenges for Pride Niagara and the community they represent.
According to the press release, Pride Niagara has been in conversations with the City of St. Catharines in an attempt to make Niagara’s annual Pride Festival “a much-needed joint venture” wherein both parties would take on costs and responsibilities. Pride Niagara said the proposition of this partnership would be an “innovative” way to host the festival while prioritizing the safety of attendees.
However, conversations between the two did not lead to an agreement, and Pride Niagara subsequently decided to condense their Pride activities by cancelling this year’s “Pride in the Park” event.
Following Pride Niagara’s press release, the City of St. Catharines issued a statement in response. In the statement, the City of St. Catharines said that the two parties were in “ongoing” discussions about how the city could promote safety at Pride Niagara events during these times of increased hate and violence. The City says that they are disappointed by the cancellation of “Pride in the Park,” as Pride celebrations in Downtown St. Catharines’ Montebello Park have been a long-time tradition.
The statement goes on to say that the City of St. Catharines did not cancel “Pride in the Park” themselves and are not “restricting the annual event in any way.”
The statement continues by listing the ways that the City of St. Catharines has supported Pride Niagara in the past, including bringing $15,000 in security measures for last year’s festival as well as a report to be completed in April 2025 examining how the City can work with Pride organizers to develop a “sustainable safety plan” and further look into how the city can provide “in kind or financial” support for Pride events.
In the comments of Pride Niagara’s Facebook post issuing the release, the organization said that they appreciate the support they have received from the City over the years, and they value continued communication between the two parties about prospective partnerships in the future.
The comment also notes that St. Catharines’ mayor Mat Siscoe was “instrumental” in providing the city’s sponsorship to Pride Niagara in the last two years and credits him as the individual who began conversations about a partnership between the organization and the city.
Pride Niagara will be hosting several events throughout the Niagara Region as a part of their 2025 Pride festival between May 31 and June 8.
For more information about this year’s Pride Niagara festival line-up, visit prideniagara.com or contact info@prideniagara.com.