Calgary Pride festival moving to Prince's Island Park - Action News
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Calgary Pride festival moving to Prince's Island Park

Growing popularity of the Calgary Pride festival has prompted organizers to move the annual event to Prince's Island Park.

Proposed new parade route would head west on 6th Avenue then south on 6th Street

Revellers take part in last year's Calgary Pride parade on Sept. 4, 2016. The event is moving to Prince's Island Park for 2017. (Rachel Maclean/CBC)

The Calgary Pride festival is moving to bigger and better downtowngrounds after outgrowing its former home in Shaw Millennium Park.

"Prince's Island Park, just being a larger venue, allows us to continue to grow the event as we continue to see more people coming out year over year. As well it gives the opportunity to expand certain aspects and elements of the event,"said Calgary Pride president JasonKingsley.

The week-long festival drew almost 8,000 out-of-town visitors to the city last year.

The Pride parade will also change to a proposed new route along Sixth Avenue in downtown Calgary.

The proposed new route for the Pride parade in Calgary will travel west along Sixth Avenue and then north up to Third Avenue, close to Prince's Island Park, where the party will be located. (Calgary Pride)

"This new route will allow spectators and participants to flow directly into the Pride in the Park event at Prince's Island Park," organizers said in a release.

An economic impact study commissioned by Calgary Pride in 2016 found the festival was responsible for $5.5 million of economic activity in Alberta and increased Alberta's GDP by $2.7 million, as well as supporting $1.6 million in local wages.

The ten-day festival begins Aug. 25 with the parade scheduled for Sept. 3