Today, July 19th, I spent several hours taking in the festivities at the Cornwall Diversity Pride Festival which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Diversity Cornwall’s mission is to combat homophobia and discrimination by promoting diversity, unity and community visibility.
The day started with a vibrant parade led by Parade Marshall Brandon MacDonald also known as Misty Mac, a local business owner and 2SLGBTQ+ advocate. The parade began from the Civic Complex, looped through the downtown, and made its way back to Lamoureux Park.
The circular path around the bandshell area was overflowing with vendors and information booths. On stage, the festival host invited Mayor Justin Towndale, Senator Bernadette Clement, and Liz Quenneville, President of the Board of Directors for Diversity Cornwall, to address the crowd prior to the show.
First on scene was Feryn King, an international hoop dancer. Prior to her performance she introduced the audience to the Skyworld story, an interpretation of the cycles of life and the relationship between humans and nature. She explained that hoop dancing symbolizes these cycles and invited the public not to just watch the dance but to feel the music.
Following Feryn’s mesmerizing performance the talented group “The Chesterfields” rocked the stage with popular songs such as “As it Was” and “Shut Up and Dance.”
