Tri-Pride back with two weeks of events

What a difference a year makes.

Last year tri-Pride was at risk of dissolving its board and putting away its rainbow flag, but a group of dedicated community members came together to bring life back into the festival, which kicks off Tuesday.

Tri-Pride board president Alex Chunaco told The Morning Edition the festival was a "valuable community asset" that needed to be maintained in the growing communities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo.

• OutFest shines spotlight on Waterloo Region's LGBTQ stories

"With the growing tech sector we are getting a lot of new ideas in our community a lot of growth in our community and our community needs to adapt with that," he said.

The festival features a wide variety of events including craft nights, support groups, yoga, parties and pageants all leading up to the parade on June 4.

"Our team has strived to try and get as many events as possible to cater to the wide range of populations in our region," Chunaco said.

Unlike the Pride parade in Toronto, tri-Pride is working with the Waterloo Regional Police Service, Chunaco said.

The force has recently hired an equity and diversion officer and a pride flag will be raised at police headquarters in a ceremony attended by the police chief, he said.

"The example we're trying to set here is exclusion doesn't promote inclusion," Chunaco said.