That's a wrap! What a great 2016 Belleville Pride!

Thank you to all of you who attended our many activities during this year's Pride Week! To the community groups and businesses who held events, to the businesses who posted Pride flags in their windows, to the media who provided such thorough and excellent coverage, and to our public officials who lent their support by being visible, and by proclaiming Pride week in our region, we are thrilled to have your support.

This year's agenda was ambitious with a week of events. We're delighted that this year's Parade and Pride in the Park was our largest event yet!

Thanks to our sponsors (who you can see on our "sponsors" page), whose generosity helps to make Pride Week happen (we're a tiny organization with a shoestring budget who tries to do pretty big things!) Special shout-out to our webmaster, Andy (from Moss Psychology) whose responsiveness and support is invaluable in communicating with you what we're up to.

A huge thanks to our volunteers: without you, this little committee would have dropped to the floor in exhaustion. We love you!

And to the 2016 Pride Committee... who's commitment and passion and humour and compassion are extraordinary. Each of you has been a joy to work with to create a week we can all be proud of. Thank you for giving me the honour of chairing the group this year.

This year's Belleville Pride was a celebration, but one that was marked with the reminder of Pride's beginnings, of protest and solidarity in the face of threats and injustice. We will not forget Orlando. Love wins.

Please watch this space! Your Pride Committee will be meeting in a couple of weeks to debrief about this year's festivities before we begin planning for 2017 Belleville Pride. We'll also be planning a couple of events before next Summer to keep us all connected, so check back here every now and then, and 'like' our Facebook page to stay up to date.

If you'd like to help us out by volunteering, or if your community group or business would like to donate or sponsor our 2017 events (or to host an event during Pride Week), please reach out to us using the "Contact" page.

It's been a privilege and a joy to chair the 2016 Belleville Pride committee.

We will not hide. We will not be quiet. We will unite. We will love.

With a heart filled with thanks and Pride,

Gilles

Gilles Charette

Chair, Belleville Pride 2016



(members of the 2016 Belleville Pride committee, with Belleville Mayor Taso Christopher... note, some of the committee members are missing from this photo)

To read about the history of Belleville Pride, CLICK HERE