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| Mayor Rob Ford attends Pride Parade in spirit. |
Pride Toronto 2011 is hot, sparkly and takes over downtown Toronto every summer. It's main Pride Parade is one of the biggest free public events boasting more than 1 million revelers and has beer gardens, lit stages and trains of food carts popping up like mushrooms on city streets.
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| David Miller waves as media swarms towards him. |
This year, Pride Toronto has the incongruous distinction of lacking a mayoral visit by incumbent Rob Ford according to other media resources. However, we disagree! It seems that Mayor Ford WAS at the Pride Parade many times over, albeit in spirit. Many Rob Ford faces were plastered over marchers, from leathered up boy toys, to young ones waving vigorously at cheering crowds.
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| The Judges have their poker faces on |
We decided to stick by the Judges Tent and watched the city's finest out on display, taking a total of 2 hours to make the march circuit. A big thrill was spotting [in person!] David Miller pass by, the 63rd Mayor of Toronto out to support Pride festivities. We saw local pride in Canadian Armed Forces and the Toronto Police, neighborly support with the Big Apple Corps Marching Band, biker love with the Toronto Amazons Motorcycle Club and an amazing float by Proud 103.9 FM. There were also freebies galore; candies, temporary tattoos, stickers, bags and balloons*.
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| Pefect example of Pride Parade spirit |
The Pride Parade vibe suffered a little from being spaced out too much at some points, but other than that, this year was amazing. Food lines were liveable, there were ample porta-potty facilities, water sold for $1 a bottle and people seemed mindful to keep litter to a minimum. It was also respectful. Instead of throngs of crowds pushing up against barricades, there was enough space to move in and out of the march circuit.
We would have loved to stay for the entire day, but attending Pride is tiring. Our stamina was spent after a mere 2 hours and 8 bottles of water. For the hardcore crews that party on till the early hours of Monday, we salute you.
For more TSR Pride Parade photos, go to our
LGBTTIQQ2SA Pride Toronto 2011 Album
