The Vancouver Pride Parade is set to welcome over half a million people downtown this Sunday, starting at 12:00pm. One of the biggest events of the year in BC, the Pride Parade and Pride Week draw revellers from around the globe to this inclusive festival.
What Vancouver Pride Parade
When Sunday, August 5, 2012 starting at 12:00pm
Where The staging area is on Robson between Burrard and Thurlow then the parade route will start at Robson and Bute. It will turn off Robson and onto Denman and curve along Beach Avenue. The parade is followed by a festival at Sunset Beach.
The Grand Marshalls will be Jenna Talackova (Miss Universe Canada’s first transgendered contestant), Bill Monroe (drag performer and local activist) and a posthumous honor goes to David Holtzman for his work with A Loving Spoonful and the Vancouver Queer Film Festival.
The parade is always a smashing good time with music, dance, beautiful costumes, bright colours, and a jovial spirit celebrating peace, love, and family. It’s heartwarming, it’s energetic, and you will have a smile on your face as each float passes by. Get to your spot early as crowds can be 10-20 people deep in some places.
Check out the complete Pride Guide and follow @VancouverPride on Twitter for details about events this week and the parade on Sunday, August 5, 2012.
Update August 5, 2012: Here are some photos and tweets from the Pride Parade so far.
We’re fortunate to have extensive coverage of the London 2012 Olympics here in Canada as the official media partners feed our insatiable appetite for athletic news and highlights. According to a Bell Media release issued this morning, the Olympic audience here has grown 74% over Beijing and the CTV websites (English and French) and apps received nearly 6 million visits by the end of Day 3, 11% higher than Vancouver 2010.
Despite all of this, the coverage I’m missing is from the ground, outside of the venue walls — the type of stories my friends were sharing during our Games. Where are the best pavilions? What are the free attractions? What is the general sentiment in and around the city? For a quick glimpse at London through the eyes of a non-accredited media outlet, I asked Jay Minter of Vancouver – who has been in England for the last 10 days – if he would put together a guest post with a few thoughts:
GoBeeGee!
By Jay Minter, for Miss604.com
Since the start of London 2012 Olympics, just a few days ago, a change has come over the City. After years of the angst and political wrangling of planning an Olympics during the worst economic downturn in modern history it’s understandable that the populace had grown indifferent and weary of the Olympics.
However, after the brilliantly British Opening Ceremony many Londoners have had a change of heart. More than a few times I have heard people saying “I’m totally onboard now” or “I’m proud to be a Londoner / British”. Suddenly, the Games have gained new appeal and people are coming out in droves to take in whatever they can of the Games.
Whether it’s on TV, in the nearly sold out BT London Live sites in parks around the Capital or by luckily getting their hands on some of the newly released event tickets there is a new desire to be a part of the ‘event of the summer’.
The predicted traffic and travel woes have not materialized so people are getting around the city with relative ease as people stay out of Central London glued to the Games. The streets, homes and offices are dressed with flags, banners and bunting.
Usual British decorum and cynicism is fading away and being replaced with national bravado. For a population normally used to only cheering on their home country; England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, cheering on the nation is unusual but these home Games have made cheering on Great Britain and wearing the Union Flag more than alright. Cheers of “Go GeeBee Go” are echoing across the country from venue to venue in a friendly show of support for their athletes and perhaps themselves.
Follow Jay Minter on Twitter and Instagram for more photos and updates.
BC Travel Tuesday has returned this summer as I partner up once again with Backyard BC to highlight properties and destinations around the province. We have six weeks of contests which means six difference getaway packages for BC hotels are up for grabs.
Featuring a variety of hotels and resorts located throughout the province, Backyard BC provides residents of British Columbia with free access to exclusive discounts on accommodation. If you live and travel in BC, we’ll make sure you pay less than the lowest rates available to anyone else. Travel local. Save big. Visit Backyard BC online, on Twitter, or Facebook and see more of BC!
The winner of the first giveaway of the 2012 BC Travel Tuesday campaign is Mark! If you haven’t already, you can still enter to win the grand prize which includes stays at every property we’re showcasing over the full six week campaign.
Today the second getaway of the series is for one of the brightest destinations in the province, getting an average of 2,047 hours of sunshine a year:
Photo courtesy of the Beach Club Resort
Beach Club Resort
Website, Twitter, Facebook, Backyard BC listing
Location: 181 Beachside Dr Parksville, BC (30 minutes North of Nanaimo)
About: Rated 4 stars by Canadian Star Quality Accommodations, guest rooms offer private balconies, spectacular ocean and mountain views, thoughtful amenities, and feature beautifully appointed West Coast décor. The hotel’s amenities include: seaside pool and hot tub, fitness centre, Stonewater Spa, and Pacific Prime Steak & Chop Restaurant with its famous beachfront patio just off the Parksville Beach Boardwalk.
Prize: 2 nights in a ocean-view 1-bedroom with breakfast
Value: $650
Parksville is one of my favourite Vancouver Island destinations with its sandy beaches and proximity to places like Milner Gardens, Little Qualicum Cheeseworks, and the quintessential summer activity — mini golf.
To enter to win the weekly contest:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
Weekly winners will be announced every Tuesday on the latest BC Travel Tuesday contest post until the six weeks are up. Gift certificates for hotel and resort stays will be sent directly to each weekly winner so they can arrange their visit personally with the property. Some restrictions apply, based on availability.
This week’s contest is now closed
View all posts in the series by following or subscribing to my BCTravelTuesday tag. Open to residents of BC. Backyard BC’s grand prize draw for stays at all 6 properties will take place September 4, 2012.
It has been 84 years since Percy Williams of East Vancouver won two gold medals in track and field at the Amsterdam Olympics — a feat that has never been repeated by a Canadian.
1928 – Archives item# CVA 99-3631 & CVA 99-3638. Photographer: Stuart Thomson.
As part of the King Edward High School track team, Williams made a splash at an early age.
“…Williams won the 100 and 220 yards three straight years at the annual Vancouver and District inter-high school meet at Brockton Point Grounds in May 1926, 1927 and 1928, setting the meet’s 100-yard record of 10.0 seconds in 1927, which took 42 years to break, and the 220-yard mark of 22.0 seconds in 1928, a record that lasted 31 years…” [Vancouver Courier: The Runt That Could 2008]
It was on August 1st, 1928 that 20 year-old Percy Williams won gold in the 100 meters, then again in the 200 meters two days later. His was arguably the biggest sports story in Vancouver history:
“…The Vancouver Sun ran banner front-page headlines for four days straight about “the Canadian schoolboy from British Columbia” who “sprang from obscurity to fame.” His victory in the 100 metres was so unexpected that the band assigned to play the national anthem of the winning sprinter had to scramble around to find the sheet music for Canada. It wound up doing a ragged version of The Maple Leaf Forever…” [Vancouver Sun]
Williams was given a hero’s welcome back in Vancouver and schools were closed on September 14th for a parade in his honor that ran along Granville street to Stanley Park. Mayor L.D. Taylor presented Williams with a new car in appreciation of his achievements in sport.
1928 – Mayor L.D. Taylor congratulates Percy Williams at the Vancouver Opera House.
Archives item# CVA 371-249. Leonard Frank Photos.
He was the fastest man of his generation and has been called the greatest track athlete of the first part of the last century, as well as the greatest all-time Olympic athlete for Canada.
“…A 1950 Canadian Press poll rated his Olympic performance the most dramatic event in Canadian sports history to that time. The design of our flag was inspired by photos of Williams breasting the finish tape in his maple leaf singlet…” [Vancouver Courier: The Runt That Could 2008]
“…Oddly, today he may also be our country’s least-known sports hero, a champion of unsurpassed Canadian achievement who died in relative obscurity. Outside the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame and Museum at B.C. Place Stadium is a life-sized statue of Williams, crouched in a sprinter’s stance. As people wandered past it, I asked if they knew who the statue depicted. Out of 10 people, I found only one who knew…” [Vancouver Courier: The Runt That Could 2008]
In 1930 Percy Williams set a world record for a 10.3 second 100 meter dash. He received the Order of Canada in 1979 and donated his medals to the BC Sports Hall of Fame — which were then stolen and have never been recovered. Williams started up an insurance business in later years and faded away. Tragically, he took his own life in 1982.
For more information on Percy Williams, read the full Vancouver Courier article “The Runt That Could”, and visit the BC Sports Hall of Fame which is located through Gate “A” at BC Place. Williams’ statue sits outside, crouched and ready to rush.
The BC Sports Hall of Fame has teamed up with the Vancouver Canadians once again this summer to honor the past and inspire the future.
The BC Sports Hall of Fame re-opened last fall in BC Place and you can visit daily from 10:00am to 5:00pm. Save your ticket stub from a Vancouver Canadians, BC Lions, or Whitecaps FC match and bring it to the Hall for 1/2 price admission for up to 2 weeks following game day. You can browse through the hall of inductees (including the class of 2011), learn about the legendary Asahi baseball team in old Japantown, and check out special galleries like the Vancouver 2010, Terry Fox, and Rick Hansen exhibits.
Some BC Sports Hall of Fame inductees for baseball include Arnie Hallgren, Larry Walker, and Helen and Margaret Callaghan who each have unique and inspiring stories.
Last year I partnered with the BC Sports Hall of Fame and the Vancouver Canadians for three weeks of giveaways and we already did it again this summer. We now have one giveaway left for the Vancouver Canadians vs the Everett Aquasox on August 16th with special guest Duane Ward.
You can enter for the chance to win 10 tickets to the game and throw out the ceremonial first pitch in front of family, friends, and the whole Nat Bailey crowd. Here’s how you can enter to win this incredible experience:
- Leave a comment naming a Canadian baseball player (past/present/any league) (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at random from all entries next Monday, August 6, 2012 at 10:00am. The BC Sports Hall of Fame will also be FREE for kids this BC Day (Monday, August 6th). Update The winner is Jackie!
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