Our Amazing Partners Who Keep Thunder Pride Thriving

The Pride Festival

Our Pride Festival is the heart of Thunder Pride’s annual celebrations right here in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Pride events in Thunder Bay first began in 2011, and our festival was the second-ever Pride Festival launched in Northern Ontario.

This event has evolved to include music, art, vendors, information booths and connection. It’s a joyful showcase of 2SLGBTQIA+ culture and a space where everyone of all ages and backgrounds is welcome to celebrate diversity and inclusion.

Thunder Pride’s festival highlights local vendors, artisans, businesses, and talent. It brings the community together through live performances, family-friendly activities, great local food, resources from community organizations, and plenty of opportunities to connect and celebrate.

Pride In Thunder Bay

  • Pride in Northern Ontario has its own powerful history of leadership, resilience, and community-building.

    Sudbury Pride is widely recognized as the first Pride event in Northern Ontario, with the first official Pride March taking place in 1997. That milestone helped open doors for more Pride events across the North and created a visible foundation for regional organizing.

    In Thunder Bay, Thunder Pride followed as the second Pride festival ever launched in the Northern Ontario region, building on the momentum Sudbury helped spark.

    Thunder Pride began when a small planning committee formed in 2010, leading to the first modern Pride celebrations in 2011. In the first two years, Pride focused on a community festival, and then the Pride Parade was added in 2013, becoming a lasting tradition that continues to grow year after year.

    • 1971: The “We Demand” rally helps spark a national 2SLGBTQIA+ rights movement in Canada

    • 1973: Pride events expand to multiple Canadian cities

    • 1981: Toronto bathhouse raids (“Operation Soap”) ignite major protests and lasting change

    • 1997: Sudbury Pride Begins Pride in the north

    • 2010: A Thunder Bay planning committee forms to build modern Pride celebrations

    • 2011: Thunder Bay hosts its first modern Pride week celebrations

    • 2013: The Thunder Bay Pride Parade becomes part of Pride programming

  • If you’d like to join us, click the links below to choose your own adventurer. Don’t see your option? Reach out to us, and we’ll get in touch with everything you need to know to be part of the celebration.

Attend The Parade
For Our Entertainers
Become A Partner
Become A Vendor
Visitor Information
Become A Volunteer

Pride Returns This June!!

Pride is coming back to Thunder Bay, and this year, we’re bringing the celebration to Friendship Gardens on Saturday, June 6, 2026.

We can’t wait to be back in June and to create a day that feels joyful, welcoming, and full of community. Pride is about showing up for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, celebrating who we are, and making space for chosen family, friends, allies, and everyone who wants to be part of something positive.

Mark your calendar for June 6. We’re so excited to make this happen, and we can’t wait to see everyone come out! Hosted by Thunder Pride.