Capital Pride 2012

Yesterday was the annual Capital Pride Parade, which is orders of magnitude more populous than the last time I was able to get to Pride, back in 2005.

My usual group, the Human Powered Vehicle Operators of Ottawa (who won Best Float in the 2004 Pride parade) didn't participate this year, so instead I hitched along with the fine folks from the Dusty Owl Reading Series.

The parade was huge, and the crowds were immense. At the end of the parade, everyone files into Marion Dewar Plaza at City Hall for the Pride celebrations (or otherwise disperses). We were float number 80 of 84, so most of the parade was already in by the time we got there. And yet there were still hundreds, if not thousands, of people still clamouring toward the Plaza behind us:

China Doll (centre) is a fixture of Ottawa's Pride parade, harking from the Shanghai Restaurant, the first Chinese restaurant to open in what is now considered Chinatown. China Doll puts on a raucous Karaoke on Saturday nights that is hilariously over-the-top.

I hope you had a chance to make it to the celebrations, and if not, come next year!