What to know<\/p>\n
More than 100 events and 25 major cultural programs are planned throughout June, with over 300 performers across eight stages<\/p>\n
Nearly all performers are Canadian, with 80% identifying as BIPOC, highlighting homegrown talent<\/p>\n
Pride weekend (June 25\u201328) will feature the Trans March, Dyke March, and the annual Pride Parade<\/p>\n
Church Street will be closed to vehicles for over two months, creating a pedestrian-friendly Village to support local 2SLGBTQ+ businesses.<\/p>\n
Organizers say Pride 2026 comes at a critical time, as global tensions rise and LGBTQ+ rights face renewed challenges.<\/p>\n
Pride Toronto kicked off its 2026 programming this morning with a special event at the CN Tower.<\/p>\n
Celebrating 45 years of Pride, this year\u2019s event promises to be bigger and better than any before. Kojo Modeste, executive director of Pride Toronto, told Queer & Now<\/a> that it will be an affair that truly showcases the talent and beauty of the community.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year\u2019s Pride is going to be a true reflection of Toronto, a true reflection of Ontario, a true reflection of Canada,\u201d Modeste shared.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is [Toronto Pride\u2019s] birthplace, and we\u2019re going to showcase so much of Canadian talent, and I think this is also going to be an opportunity to bring so many groups together.\u201d<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n The month of June boasts more than 100 different events to mark the occasion, including 25 major cultural events.<\/p>\n Heading into Pride weekend, falling June 25-28 this year, there are eight stages set for the festivities, with more than 300 acts expected to perform. Of those acts, 99 per cent are Canadian, and 80 per cent are BIPOC. Additionally, the street market that spans Church St. for the weekend will feature seven visual art installations and over 600 artists.<\/p>\n The annual Trans March is scheduled for Friday, the 26, the Dyke March will go down on Saturday, the 27, and finally, the centre of the celebrations, the Pride parade, is scheduled for Sunday June, 28.<\/p>\n The full festival lineup is now available on the Pride Toronto website.<\/a><\/p>\n Celebrating 45 years of Toronto Pride<\/p>\n Considering the current political climate, and ahead of the 45th anniversary, Modeste shared mixed emotions ahead of Pride 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a feeling of joy that 45 years later, we\u2019re still here. But there is that level of anxiety because the 2SLGBT+ community continues to be attacked,\u201d Modeste explained. \u201cAnd a lot of the gains that we have made, we\u2019re seeing being erased in some communities, and that has me worried.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019m also really looking forward to just bringing the community together to celebrate, to just show up in a way that we have never shown up before.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing last year\u2019s funding challenges<\/a>, when sponsors pulled out of supporting the festivities as DEI rollbacks took place across Canada and the U.S., the executive director says that the festival is in a better place this time around.<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \u201cThere is still that level of uncertainty. We\u2019re still not where we would like to be, but we hope with the work that we\u2019re currently doing with our federal and provincial government, that we will be able to bridge that gap that we currently have.\u201d<\/p>\n And in this current political climate, showing up and showing out as Queer people, for our community, has never been more important. Modeste underscored this point, saying that Pride is just as important as it was 45 years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBecause as we speak here today, on top of the CN Tower, there are individuals in rooms negotiating how to take our rights away,\u201d the executive director explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo Pride is an opportunity to remind the world that we are here, to remind the world that 25 years ago, we did not have the right to marriage,\u201d Modeste added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many things that we can look back on, and as a result of Pride, we are here, but if we don\u2019t keep our eyes on the mark, we can lose all of this. This is why Pride needs to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n As such, this year\u2019s festival is aptly themed: We Won\u2019t Stop.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year is going to be a year to remember,\u201d Modeste said. \u201cIt is going to be a year that is going to go down in history.\u201d<\/p>\n Big changes coming to The Village\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a big time for The Village, with the city council approving a pilot that will close two blocks of Church St. to vehicle traffic. Running from June 19 through Aug. 21, the test will see cars banned on Church, from Wellesley Ave to Maitland Ave.\u00a0<\/p>\n Councillor for the area Chris Moise told Queer & Now that Toronto is following in the footsteps of other world-class cities in closing Queer villages to vehicle traffic.<\/p>\n \u201cMontreal has actually closed three streets to pedestrians. One is St. Catherine St., and it\u2019s really been a great success,\u201d Moise shared.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Church St., which is typically closed to traffic for Pride weekend and Halloween, is home to many 2SLGBTQ+-owned and operated businesses, including bars, cafes, shops and service providers. The councillor says this pedestrian-focused approach will support these companies.<\/p>\n \u201cI was told by the councillors [in Montreal] that sales for businesses [in the area] have been up 82 per cent, and they\u2019ve had zero businesses that have gone under since the pedestrianization,\u201d Moise explained, calling Toronto\u2019s pilot an amazing opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n He also hopes it will help to bring a better vibe to the neighbourhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think having closed for a longer period of time will really change the atmosphere and the vibe of the community,\u201d he explained. \u201cYou know, in that it\u2019s a safe place, it\u2019s an inclusive place to come not only by name, but also by action, and I think pedestrianization will help with that.\u201d<\/p>\n And while the pilot is currently set to run for a little over eight weeks this summer, this may only be the beginning.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re hoping that we\u2019ll bring it back again in subsequent years, and hopefully we\u2019ll collect enough data that we could replicate that in other neighbourhoods in the city,\u201d Moise shared.<\/p>\n Additionally, it also looks like Pride Toronto\u2019s offices may make a comeback to The Village, after departing during the pandemic. This is something Moise says is a big deal.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are Queer people all over the city, right? But The Village is a place where Queer people come, and we all feel a sense of ownership to it,\u201d He shared.\u00a0<\/p>\n Moise shared that organizations like Pride Toronto, Black CAAP and businesses like Glad Day Bookshop should be in the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause I think there\u2019s an expectation from the community that these services are actually in The Village, and I agree with that,\u201d Moise explained, adding that this is one of his commitments as a councillor.<\/p>\n Those looking to make a donation to the organization can do so through the Pride Toronto website<\/a>, and people looking to pick up some limited edition Pride 45th anniversary merch can do so through the merch store.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What to know More than 100 events and 25 major cultural programs are planned throughout June, with over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[13348,9705,9535,48,13349],"class_list":{"0":"post-28249","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto","8":"tag-pride","9":"tag-pride-toronto","10":"tag-queer-now","11":"tag-toronto","12":"tag-toronto-pride"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}