Huron County’s first Pride Festival to be held in Goderich

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HURON – Court House Square in Goderich will be a lively scene on June 10 as Huron County’s first-ever Pride Festival kicks off for a day of family-friendly fun.

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“This is going to be an epic one,” Huron County Pride chair Tim Damon said.

The day’s festivities will include family activities, a panel with health experts, drag performances, an artisan market, live music, hat-creation workshops, yoga and more as the community gathers to celebrate inclusivity and diversity.

Damon said the road to the county’s first Pride Festival began in 2022, when Huron County Pride was created. The group started its efforts by hosting a town hall in Goderich, where 65 members of the community gathered to talk about what services and ideas they’d like to see brought to fruition by the organization.

“It was this really beautiful dialogue of ideas,” said Damon. “It wasn’t just the queer community. It was the whole community. It was allies; it was queer people; it was a full range of residents who really want this. After that, we were really inspired and excited to move forward.”

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Following the success of the town hall, the group continued to host similar events in Bayfield, Clinton and Exeter to bring communities from throughout the county into the conversation, and there are plans to hold more in the future.

The Pride Festival’s main stage schedule includes:

In the case of bad weather, the Pride Festival will be held June 11 instead.

Though Damon said most of the feedback from the community about the festival has been positive, he noted there have been messages from individuals who are “charged” about the topic of drag performances and children.

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But even in the face of negativity, Damon said Huron County Pride’s strategy is to not engage with those individuals and instead strive to create a space where people feel welcomed.

“It really is about not acknowledging or adding to the fire,” said Damon. “At the end of the day, we want to create a safe and welcoming space for the people who are there – for the people who are showing up for the event and who are coming with love and support.”

Damon also stressed the Pride Festival is a family-friendly event, saying the drag story time being organized will be suitable for people of all ages, which is why it will be featured on the festival’s main stage.

“It is not sexualized,” he said. “It’s more of a children’s book character come to life. We have it on the stage to really spotlight it so that not just kids, but everyone can participate in story time and feel that this is actually OK.”

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To mark Pride Month in June, Huron County Pride reached out to lower-tier municipalities throughout the county to request they fly Pride flags and officially recognize the month. Many communities agreed to accommodate the request, including Goderich, North Huron, Huron East, Howick and Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh.

But councils in some communities, including Bluewater and Central Huron, decided against recognizing Pride officially. The Pride flag also won’t be flown in South Huron, where officials cited the municipality’s flag policy as the reason.

The Pride Festival is just one of several events being hosted by Huron County Pride to celebrate Pride Month.

Queer Movie Night is being held June 9 at the Huron County Museum, where guests will be able to enjoy a showing of The Kids Are All Right.

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“It’s a great fun night for people to get out,” said Damon.

Also, on June 10, the first annual Pride Hike will set off from Clan Gregor Square in Bayfield. The hike is being organized in partnership with the Bayfield River Valley Trail Association.

Huron County Pride has also been working to showcase inclusion in the community through its decal program, where businesses, organizations and individuals can donate $15 to Huron County Pride and receive a package including decals to be displayed and educational materials that cover topics such as pronoun use and accessible washrooms.

“There is this idea that if you put a rainbow on your window, it is a safe space,” said Damon. “However, we really wanted to accompany an educational component with the decals.”

For more information about Huron County Pride and the Pride Festival, visit www.huroncountypride.ca.