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As this year’s Pride Winnipeg Festival marks its opening Friday, those attending are being asked to share their first festival experience.

It’s part of this year’s theme — My First Pride — in which organizers have been collecting stories for the last several months about people’s memories of their first Pride event.

The festival committee says it hopes that these stories can bridge the gap between new festivalgoers and the longtime Pride community, making everyone feel welcomed and embraced.

Date change reversed

The festival originally announced last fall they were moving this year’s event to July 20 – July 29 because it was a better time of year to handle the festival’s growing attendance and need for more space. They said they would be able to use more of the space at The Forks during late July.

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But after backlash from the community, the festival reversed its decision and moved back to its regular time of year.

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At this year’s Pride AGM, the board approved a change to move away from the term LGBTTQ to describe the community and introduce the acronym GSRD (gender, sexual and relationship diversity) at this year’s festival. They say this term will lead to more inclusion.

The festival runs from May 25 until June 3 and will wrap with the annual Pride Parade.

For a full list of events, visit pridewinnipeg.com

Pride in Manitoba

Other Pride events scheduled in Manitoba over the next few months include:

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Brandon: June 11 – 16

Portage la Prairie: July 7

Steinbach: July 21

Flin Flon: Aug. 17