Waterloo Region’s largest event celebrating its LGBTQ community may be on its last legs.
Organizers of tri-Pride say the festival is in a “critical position,” and the idea of dissolving their organization has been floated.
“It’s not something anyone wants to see – but if we don’t get the help we need, it’s a very real possibility,” board member Justin Grundy told CTV News.
“There’s currently only four board members, and we’re overwhelmed.”
The first tri-Pride festival in Kitchener was put together in 1995, with little notice.
Organizers of that event say it was so popular that it was immediately turned into an annual festival, which at its height drew thousands of people.
More recent events haven’t been quite as well attended,
Grundy says tri-Pride has always had volunteers ready to offer their time on the day of the festival, but the rest of the year has been a bigger challenge.
“The amount of work that goes into a festival is astronomical,” he said.
“When you end up with four people sharing that load, it’s easy to understand how one could get burned out.”
The remaining tri-Pride organizers have floated a number of ideas, including downsizing the event or taking a year off.
A meeting is expected to take place later this month to give the festival’s future a more clear focus.
