Vancouver Weekend: We're Thinking....Pride

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      Need something to do this weekend? While you're likely well aware of Vancouver's marquee Pride Parade, here are five lesser known LGBT-friendly events where you can join in on the Pride festivities.

      Davie Street Party, Friday (July 29) between Burrard and Jervis streets

      Friends of Dorothy (or FODs, to those in the know) might encourage you to follow the yellow brick road. We reckon it’s better to follow the rainbow crosswalks. This year’s Davie Street Party (6 p.m. to midnight) will stretch all the way from Jervis to Burrard, with sidewalks lined with food carts, dance zones, and photo booths. And that’s not all. With a community stage established at Davie and Bute, and the main stage set up at Davie and Burrard, the party promises to showcase a whole lot of music talent. Highlights will local stalwarts DJ Del Stamp and DJ G-Luve, and organizers have promised two drag shows that collectively feature 12 different artists. Punters can expect a newly “exploded” beer garden (their words, but we believe it), and a very special “Wimple-In” ceremony from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. And if that all sounds a bit too loud, we recommend the all-evening silent disco for a lot of volume-controlled fun.

      What's better than fluffy pancakes on a Saturday morning? The Terry Wallace Memorial Breakfast takes place on July 30.
      Davie Street YIG

      Terry Wallace Memorial Breakfast, Saturday (July 30) at Jim Deva Plaza (corner of Bute and Davie streets)

      For those who may want to take a short break from the upbeat music and calorie-decreasing dancing, keep your Saturday morning free for an intimate and tasty gathering. The Vancouver Pride Society is once again hosting a by-donation community breakfast on July 30at 8 a.m. at the recently completed Jim Deva Plaza, by the intersection of Bute and Davie streets. Expect to indulge in fluffy, syrup-covered pancakes and other breakfast treats at this event that honours Terry Wallace, one of the founders of Pride in Vancouver. After enjoying this early meal, you’ll be recharged and energized enough to participate in the array of fun and entertaining Pride events this weekend.

      Bearracuda runs epic dance parties around the world, and it's coming to Vancouver this weekend.
      Bearracuda Austin

      Bearracuda, Saturday (July 30) at Red Room Ultra Bar (398 Richards Street) and Sunday (July 31) at Five Sixty (560 Seymour Street)

      “We’ve got bears, cubs, otters, beefcakes and other wildlife!” So boasts the website of Bearracuda, which runs dance parties in 40 cities worldwide, including San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, New York, London, Austin, Atlanta, and Sydney. Oh, and Vancouver, where this weekend bearded dudes of every stripe will take a walk on the hairy side to the ballsy beats of U.K.–based DJ Hifi Sean at Red Room on Saturday, or with DJs Gordon John and Nick Bertossi at Five Sixty on Sunday. Get ready to growl, howl, and make whatever sound an otter makes.

      Keep your eye out for various marches in addition to the Vancouver Pride Parade.
      Vancouver Dyke March/Facebook

      Alternative marches, various locations

      While Pride appears to be one big party, it's really about politics at its core. And so, given the diversity of the LGBT communities, it's inevitable that there'll be as many marches as there are variations of the LGBT umbrella. If the Vancouver Pride parade doesn't fit your sociopolitical leanings, here are some other marches to consider. The 2016 Trans, Transgender, Transsexual, Two-Spirit, Genderqueer, Intersex March—a political protest for gender diversity—takes place on Friday (July 29). Participants will gather at 5:30 p.m. at Clark Park (1500 East 14th Avenue) and walk north on Commercial Drive, turn east on Grant Street, and up at Victoria Park (at Victoria Drive and Grant Street), where speeches and performances will take place. On Saturday (July 30), the Vancouver Dyke March will first gather at McSpadden Park (2125 Victoria Drive) at 11 a.m., then at noon start marching along Commercial Drive toward Grandview Park (at Commercial Drive and Charles Street), where a festival will be held at 12:30 p.m. This year, Black Lives Matter Vancouver will be the march's grand marshal. And then on Monday (August 1), the Two Spirit, Queers, Trans, Intersex, and Bi People of Colour Pride March will gather at Victory Square (200 West Hastings Street) at 1 p.m., and march along Pender Street and Main Street to CRAB Park. The queer Muslim group Salaam Vancouver and the South Asian group Trikone Vancouver are participating in this parade in solidarity with Black Lives Matter Vancouver's protest of the Vancouver police participation in the Vancouver Pride parade. Whichever march you join in on, don't forget to put on your shoes that were made for walking—because that's just what they'll do.

      You'll find lots of Divines at the Cobalt on Saturday (July 30).
      New Line Cinema

      Limp Wrist Pride: Night of a Thousand Divines!, The Cobalt (917 Main Street) on Saturday (July 30)

      As sure as Pink Flamingos was lovingly designed as “an exercise in poor taste”, Harris Glenn Milstead would have loved the venue for Limp Wrist Pride: Night of a Thousand Divines! If you’re celebrating the life of Divine—not to mention the cinematic trash of John Waters—you don’t decamp to a shiny, sterile club full of beautiful and snotty people. Instead, you head to the Cobalt, which has grit, an edge, and a whole lot of well-worn charm. That makes the club perfect for Night of a Thousand Divines!, which organizers are billing as a “celebration of our favourite salacious sissies, celebrating queer icons” inspired by “filmmaker and generally debauched mind John Waters”. Peach Cobblah hosts the night, with DJ Jef Leppard and New York’s DJ Colby B spinning tracks. But the real stars of the show will be the on-stage parade of Divine-indebted—not to mention absolutely divine—drag queens. Because we know every line in Pink Flamingos by heart (“You stand convicted of assholism—the proper punishment will now take place”), we couldn’t be more excited about the impending tribute. Still, we’ve got nothing on Peach Cobblah, who posted this bit of gold on the Thousand Divines! Facebook page: “It’s so close I can taste it! Or maybe that’s dog shit.”

      Running every Thursday, Vancouver Weekend spotlights five Straight-approved places around the city worth discovering.

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