Toronto to host World Pride in 2014
World Pride 2014 to be hosted in Toronto, Canada
Toronto will host an international celebration of gay rights after winning the support of delegates at the Inter-Pride Conference in Florida yesterday morning.
Beating out Stockolm in the competition to host the 2014 event, Pride Toronto organizers hope hosting the World Pride bash will bring a cash boost to the city. “A festival of this nature will bring Pride contingents from the world over,” said Pride Toronto spokeswoman Crystal Moore. “There’s no telling just how many will flock to the city for World Pride in 2014.”
World Pride — which includes a parade, an opening ceremony, festivals and cultural events — promotes gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gender issues internationally. Toronto’s World Pride event will include a human-rights conference and an AIDS candlelight vigil, among other activities.
Organizers from Pride Toronto said last year’s Pride Week, which hosted more than one million people, contributed $136-million to the city’s economy and drew nearly 750,000 tourists to the city. The 10-day-long celebration in June cost about $4-million.
They anticipate even more attendees for World Pride, noting London expects double their attendance rates in 2012.
“World Pride 2014 will transform our local pride and community spirit, while generating a positive impact on our economy, our tourism and commercial industry, and our physical and social community,” Ms. Moore said.
“In over 29 years of Pride Week celebrations, the world has taken notice of Toronto as a city that celebrates diversity,” said George Smitherman, Ontario’s Deputy Premier and the first openly gay Cabinet minister.
Toronto triumphed over Stockholm with 78% of the ballots in the second round of voting yesterday at the conference in St. Petersburg. Stockholm also lost a bid to host the event in 2012.
The Toronto bid was presented on Saturday by a contingent including police officers and David Whitaker, the president of Tourism Toronto.
The World Pride celebration was first held in Rome in 2000. The second was set to take place in Jerusalem in 2006 but was cancelled due to regional conflict. The next one is scheduled in 2012 in London, just before the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
World Pride will happen simultaneously with Toronto’s Pride Week in 2014. Next year’s Pride Week is the event’s 30th anniversary and will be held from June 25 to July 4.
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2118654#ixzz0UUB82cXa
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October 20, 2009 11:09 am 