The name chosen for the 24th annual Sudbury Pride week, hosted by Fierté Sudbury Pride (FSP), does an excellent job summarizing the general feeling around 2021 events.
It’s called Queerantine 2.0: Seriously? Not this s**t again! (Sérieux? Esti, pas ça encore!)
And while they are yet to announce the events that will occur during Sudbury Pride week, July 12-18, (you never know what the world will look like then), there are some plans to help you get excited for what is to come, but also, to help those who need Pride celebrations more than ever.
More than anything, it’s gathering together that most of the community has missed during the pandemic, so FSP has worked to put together a Spotify playlist. A release from the group reads, “While we can’t all be together in the park or at Zig’s, rocking out to some music and just feeling our oats, we’ve come up with the next best thing! Fierté Sudbury Pride has carefully curated a series of Spotify playlists.”
Next is a chance to be a part of Queeranzine, this time with the theme of ‘Queer Joy.’ Queeranzine is a virtual booklet containing short poems, ‘mini-manifestos’, collages, and artistic photography. Submissions are open to June 30th and Fierté Sudbury Pride wants to know where they’ve found joy in these unbelievably difficult times.
To help folks get their creative juices flowing, FSP is offering two writing workshops, one in French and one in English. June 9th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. is an English writing workshop with Blaine Thornton, in partnership with Myths & Mirrors Community Arts. June 16 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. French writing workshop with Lionel Lehouillier and Dillon Orr, in partnership with Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario.
And to find a light in these dark times is a chance to offer a care package to young people who have not yet had a chance to take part in a pride event, from those who have been through the struggle and want to guide the way. If you are a queer youth under the age of 19 and would like to receive a care package for free, got to the Fierté Sudbury Pride website before June 18. If you are a queer adult or elder, FSP is asking you to share your time and experience with the younger ones by writing a simple letter, one that offers a message of welcome, of support, or even just caring.
Alex Tétreault, Chair of Fierté Sudbury Pride said, “It’s super important for community members to feel like Pride belongs to them, that they have a sense of ownership and attachment to the organization and to the celebrations. These virtual projects are our hope to fulfil that need, one that folks would normally feel during in-person events. We know that it’s hard to recreate the feelings we get from dancing in a crowded bar or of sharing a beautiful sunny day in the park with our chosen family, but we hope that when lonely teens receive their goodie bags, when folks see their words on the page, and when families have dance parties in their kitchen that we’ll have given them even just a fraction of what makes Pride so magical.”
If you would like to find out more about the Spotify list, care packages and events this year, or find support for yourself, visit sudburypride.com.