Press Release: Muskoka Pride Week A Success - Thank You Muskoka!

For Immediate Release
 
MUSKOKA PRIDE WEEK A SUCCESS – THANK YOU MUSKOKA!
 
The Muskoka Pride Festival came to a close with a roaring success, at the 8th annual Picnic at  Annie Williams Park. It was another wonderful afternoon of Picnic fun.
 
Sadly, many people who identify as LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) still live closeted lives for fear of community-backlash if they come out. Pride celebrations play an important role in creating inclusive and accepting communities.
 
Muskoka Pride would like to offer our congratulations to Carys Camani and Jay Sutman of Guelph, and Mike Melidoni and John MacKinnor of Etobicoke, two couples who were married during the Picnic on Sunday. East-coast singer Irish Mythen, and the Mitch Beube Jazz Combo, entertained almost 400 picnic-goers this year.
 
During our Huntsville Kickoff Party, Briar Summers and her band mates (James Crawford, Alex Pelling, and Alex Lupton) did an amazing job playing for the crowd of 200.  What a talented group of 13-14 year olds!  Thank you to Explosive Device Records for providing all of their sound equipment and setup.
 
Once again this year all 6 municipalities in Muskoka raised the Rainbow Pride flag during the Muskoka Pride Festival.  Wahta First Nation raised the flag for the first time this year as well.  We would like to thank the mayors, councillors, and staff at all municipalities.
 
All of our events this week were well attended, with over 900 people “coming out” to the different events across Muskoka.  During the Muskoka Pride Festival, 10,000 unique visitors to the Muskoka Pride Facebook Page and 5000 visitors to our website (www.muskokapride.com) also saw Muskoka as a queer-positive tourism destination. 
 
We would like to thank our title sponsors:  The Town of Bracebridge, RBC branches of Muskoka, and the Bala Cranberry Festival.  Please visit www.muskokapride.com/2016-sponsors to see all of the businesses who sponsored Pride Festival activities this year.
 
Finally, we would like to say a special thank you to our team of dedicated volunteers, who put in countless hours ensuring the Pride events were successful. 
 
Next year’s Muskoka Pride Picnic will be on Sunday, July 30th.