June is Pride Month and the Kimberley Pride Society (KPS) has a ton of exciting events in store.
KPS is a grassroots, not-for-profit established in 2021/22. The Bulletin caught up with president Khadija Flynn to learn more about the society and discuss what they have planned for Pride Month.
Khadija and her partner first moved to Kimberley from Vancouver in 2019.
"As you do when you move to a new place, we started trying to build a network which led us to volunteer for an event put on by the Kimberley Youth Action Network (KYAN)," she said. "We met some new friends there who were all really missing the queer community support we all had in the city, so we decided to try and create that here. And that was the birth of the Kimberley Pride Society. We soon learned that there were a lot of people in the same boat, looking for community in our small town."
KPS now has around 65 members and a board that is continually working to build capacity in order to create more diverse, sustained and fun events and programming throughout the year. Khadija said the society is also working on creating partnerships with other local non-profits and businesses to see how they can collaborate and continue to grow their vibrant, inclusive community.
Khadija said she is very excited for the 2025 Pridefest program, which this year runs from June 20 to 22. New this year is a free Movie and Games Night event for youth aged 15 to 18 to kick things off on the Friday evening, with snacks and crafts.
"The Saturday night we will have our Drag Show and Dance, featuring the always amazing and hilarious April Storm, introducing for the first time in Kimberley, Farrah Nuff and Nearah Nuff who was a finalist in season 4 of Canada’s Drag Race, and DJ Kevin West, who was at the Pride ski event at Kimberley Alpine Resort in March," Khadija said.
Tickets are on sale now at an early bird price of $30 and they're 10 per cent off for KPS members. This event will be held at Centre 64 and Khadija encourages people to get their tickets soon as seating is limited.
Sunday will feature the free, family-friendly Pride in the Park event, which goes from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Khadija said they will have even more vendors this year than in previous years, plus a bouncy castle, a pet parade, a well-loved drag race and, new this year, live music from local band The Hurricanes, who performed at last year's JulyFest.
KPS is still looking for volunteers for Pridefest.
"We love our volunteers and definitely would love to have more," Khadija said. If you're interested, you can find Kimberley Pride Society on Facebook and Instagram, or contact them at volunteers@kimberleypridesociety.com
She added that if you are interested in getting involved with Board activities, you are encouraged to attend their AGM, which they're hoping to hold in November.
"We are working on establishing committees to support our strategic objectives and could definitely use a few more keen people," she said. You can contact kimberleypridesociety@gmail.com for more information.
The current focus of KPS is on Kimberley Pridefest 2025, but Khadija said the society is looking to establish a more routine schedule of events that build on their past success. This includes things like a Winter Formal in December and Kimberley Alpine Resort Pride in March.
"Keep checking in to our social media platforms to see what we have in the works and feel free to send along your ideas for what you would like to see us plan," Khadija said. "We want to hear from you!"
The society has also been working with their colleagues at the Fernie Pride Society, who reached out this past fall about the Kootenay Pride Guide. This project involves all Pride societies in the East and West Kootenays to leverage and grow their networks towards the creation of a community collaboration map of the people, places and spaces that support 2SLGBTQ+ folks to foster feeling safe, seen and belonging. If you are interested in registering your business, submit your location to kootenayprideguide.ca
