tri-Pride

🌈THE LIGHT IS HERE 🌈

We are 2 hours away from the opening of PRIDE IN THE PARK 2026 - YEAR 30! So much love & labour has been poured into this event, for you, Kitchener, Waterloo & Cambridge; for us and our shared pasts, present & future!

We can’t wait to see you, meet you, hold you (with consent) and witness your truest authentic light SHINE!

With you,
-Tri-Pride

GOOD MORNING KITCHENER, WATERLOO & CAMBRIDGE! ITS PRIDE DAY!
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As we do the finishing touches in the park; we felt it important to share who your 2026 SUMMERFEST team is! For a while now we’ve been feeling like it’s critical that our community knows who we are - as people and as your neighbours, friends, family members and colleagues. Many seem to think that tri-Pride Board Members are paid staff and have the capacity of employees. We’re flattered but you should know that this organization has always been held up by volunteers. From our small and mighty volunteer board to the community members that support in bringing events to life — for almost 30 years, tri-Pride has been volunteer run and grassroots oriented.
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Meet the volunteer board members that devote their evenings and weekends to local Pride organizing because Pride is identity; Pride is our stories of pain and becoming. Pride is our practice of hope, solidarity, and connection. This team starts planning for SUMMERFEST back in December from inviting sponsors that enable us to offer a free space to our community to filing permits, engaging talent, mobilizing community and so much more.
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Also meet the artists and creatives who have shared countless hours, materials, talents, and space with us to bring our vision of THE LIGHT IS COMING to life in the space.
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You can find your tri-Pride team on Saturday in tri-Pride shirts and Melissa and Mandy with cameras wrapped around them running around! Say hi, share your gratitude and offer your support wherever possible. We can’t wait to see you, meet you and celebrate with you!

Photography by our very own Kamil. As you can see, we all wear lots of hats!

🏳️‍🌈🤎 EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR PRIDE IN THE PARK 2026 🤎🏳️‍🌈

With just 1 sleep till Pride in the Park, SUMMERFEST 2026 - YEAR 30, our tireless volunteer Board is incredibly proud to share your 2026 PRIDE CARE GUIDE.
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In response to and with recognition of important questions and calls to action from community locally and globally; our team has engaged in deep reflection and been practicing consistent intention to present Pride with care, commitment, and transparent communication.
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We invite all to review, sit with, share, and honour all that is in this guide in anticipation of a day of JOY + RESISTANCE inspired by an embodiment of our theme, THE LIGHT IS COMING!
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In this guide you’ll find a letter from our President & Chair of the Board, Lucas welcoming you to Pride, the FULL FESTIVAL SCHEDULE, details on venue specs, notes on parking & inclement weather, our positions on Pride as a protest and more!

THE LIGHT IS COMING
06. 06. 2026

🏳️‍🌈📢 MEET 6/10 OF YOUR PRIDE IN THE PARK 2026 DRAG ARTISTS 📢🏳️‍🌈

Pride in the Park and Pride generally wouldn’t be what it is without drag and the local performers that colour the event through their unique art forms! We’re thrilled to host the musical excellence of 10 diverse drag artists that embody Pride 365 with their year-round work in community: building & animating spaces of q***r joy, resistance, connection & safety. Meet 6 of them:

Your local trans-masc drag king with poignant and planned performances, it’s

Known for her finely curated, masterfully practiced, and radically kind performances, it’s .karamelle

Living up to their motto of “be the whimsy you want to see in your everyday life” it’s Everyone’s Favourite Creature

Our suave king with an occasionally goofy side and entrancing eye contact its the very swoon-worthy,

Serving high-energy drag known for dancing and performing acrobatic numbers, it’s the sweet

With live vocals bound to thrill the audience spanning across genres, it’s the inspired

Don’t miss these brilliant local drag artists this Saturday! Full schedule coming soon!

THE LIGHT IS COMING
06. 06. 2026

A note of gratitude, response, and solidarity.

With care,
- your tri-Pride team

As we get closer and closer to PRIDE IN THE PARK and tri-Pride’s 30th anniversary, we continue to remember and honor the stories that have shaped our path. Fabian Fletcher was the tri-Pride Board President and Chair from 2023-2026, leading and inspiring a formative period for tri-Pride.
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Thank you, Fabian for your volunteer-service and leadership and for sharing your reflections with community as part of stepping-down in a good way. We love you and will continue to honour your efforts!
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THE LIGHT IS COMING
06. 06. 2026

🏳️‍🌈📢 MEET 4/10 OF YOUR PRIDE IN THE PARK 2026 DRAG ARTISTS 📢🏳️‍🌈

Pride in the Park and Pride generally wouldn’t be what it is without drag and the local performers that colour the event through their unique art forms! We’re thrilled to host the musical excellence of 11 diverse drag artists that embody Pride 365 with their year-round work in community: building & animating spaces of q***r joy, resistance, connection & safety. Meet 5/11 of them:

Known across Ontario as the “second tallest building in KW”, it’s

Serving alternative gender-bending drag referencing science, race & underground pop culture, it’s

With elaborate costumes and storytelling props, it’s .teee

Black trans goddess who singe, dances & acts, it’s

Don’t miss these brilliant local drag artists this Saturday. And stay tuned for the announcement of 6 more! Full schedule coming soon!

THE LIGHT IS COMING
06. 06. 2026

🏳️‍🌈🎤MEET YOUR PRIDE IN THE PARK 2026 MUSIC ENTERTAINERS 🎶🏳️‍🌈

Pride in the Park wouldn’t be what it is without music and the local musicians that breathe life into the event through their sound! We’re thrilled to host the musical excellence of 6 diverse artists/groups that will feed your soul, make you dance, and explore identity through sonic solidarity! Meet your SUMMERFEST musicians:

Meet : a local folk rock band playing original songs ranging from hard-hitting rock to ballads, to melodic rock grooves across themes of decidedly q***r life experiences.

Meet DJ ANGEL P : a Black Q***r multidisciplinary artist creating unapologetically inclusive community experiences through high-energy DJ sets inspired by her Q***r-Caribbean roots highlighting the importance of global club and diverse music traditions.

Meet : a ferociously kind & poignant musician bringing punk back to Pride with both covers and original songs that honor trans & q***r identities.

Meet SUMMERR .summer: a lifelong musician & event organizer who invites authentic self-expression & freedom through high energy, playful, pop, techno & hyper-pop DJ prowess. Also the founder of Guelphs !

Meet : a grassroots movement seeking to strengthen community engagement and connection through song! We’re thrilled to have their easy to learn, non-religious songs grounded in love, nonviolence & solidarity on the Pride stage!

Meet RAVEN: a young cover artist with a tenderly strong voice channeling pain into music!

Don’t miss these musical acts this Saturday. Full schedule coming soon!

THE LIGHT IS COMING
06. 06. 2026