Pride Winnipeg Festival changing dates to accommodate growth

The Pride Winnipeg Festival at The Forks has outgrown its usual date on the first weekend of June.

So organizers have pushed the date back a month and a half.

The festival will now run from July 20 to 29, with the festival at The Forks on July 28 and 29 and the Pride Winnipeg Parade on July 29.

The new dates allow the festival to eventually use the whole site at The Forks, nearly tripling its current footprint from 120,000 square feet to 365,000 square feet, Pride Winnipeg president Jonathan Niemczak said. 

Competing schedules from the Winnipeg International Children's Festival in early June meant Pride organizers weren't able to book as much space at The Forks as they wanted.

"Right now, there's just no more real estate. We've been getting requests from folks who want to get involved and want to set up content, and we've also been wanting to expand our current content, but we just can't. We just do not have the space."

The expanded Pride Winnipeg Festival will also serve as a test run for the 2020 Fierté Canada Pride Festival, which thousands from across Canada are expected to attend. Shifting the dates now allows Pride organizers time to make arrangements with suppliers and stakeholders before the national festival, Niemczak said.

The city will also host the North American Continental Outgames and a three-day human rights conference in 2020, he said.