St. John's Pride parade organizers happy with 'perfect' event

The St. John's Pride parade filled the streets of downtown on Sunday and organizers are very happy with how the event turned out.

• Pride parade takes over St. John's
• Everyday Gay: Video celebrates Pride Week in St. John's

"It was perfect," said St. John's Pride board member TJ Jones."I'm a little biased but I'm quite pleased with how [the parade] turned out."

Jones said he was very happy with the events of Pride Week, and described the turnout at Sunday's parade as "amazing."

"We've seen some pretty incredible exponential growth over the last few years, and last year I think we called it between 2,000 and 3,000 people," he said.

"This year I'd say we were closer to 4,000."

A turnout of that size makes this year's pride parade the biggest Jones is aware of in St. John's and the event is still growing.

"We're getting a little bit more community support, so it adds more of like a festival feel almost," he said.

"Not to say that there isn't still space or need for protesting and claiming space, but I feel like there's a bit more of a celebratory air."

'Hope for the future'

Jones was also happy to see families out together in Bannerman Park at the end of the parade celebrating Pride Week.

"It just gave me a lot of hope for the future, to imagine what it will be like in 20 years," he said.

"For people who will be more influential and have more power at that time the things they've been exposed to earlier it helps normalize it. It gave me a lot of hope to see all the families."

• Huge, Pride-themed dreamcatcher in St. John's may be world's largest

He also drew attention to the St. John's Native Friendship Centre's entry in the parade.

"It was beautiful to see, and I got to march in front of them and just hearing their drumming was quite moving."

Jones said the St. John's Pride board will take a short break before getting to work on next year's event, with the aim of an even bigger event for 2017.