For some community groups, it's their 3rd year of virtual or cancelled events

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Matt Villeneuve never imagined he'd be planning virtual Pride Week events three years in a row.

But despite an end to gathering limits and COVID-19 restrictions, Fiert Timmins Pride announced this week it won'tbe hosting a parade or rally this June in the northeastern Ontario city.

"It sucks having to cancel the parade. It's unfortunate that we have to do it. It wasn't a decision that the board took lightly," said Villeneuve, the board's president.

The reason for the cancellationisn't to do with COVID-19 safety concerns, but rather challenges in recruiting volunteers for the event.

"The main thing is through COVIDthere's a lot of exhaustion. Everybody is very tired," Villeneuve said.

Logistically it doesn't make a lot of sense to have fourpeople plan the whole thing. Matt Villeneuve, Fiert Timmins Pride

The board lost several members over the last two years for various reasons, including family commitments, he said.Now, the volunteer-run board hasjust four members. He said a full board would be eight to 10 people.

"We were doing our best amongst our board to do our best at getting the parade going, because of course nobody wants theparade cancelled. It's the crux of the Pride movement," Villeneuve said.

"It's just unfortunately, like I said, logistically it doesn't make a lot of sense to have fourpeople plan the whole thing and run it along with all the other activities that are taking place during Pride Week."

Villeneuve said having large, public events like a Pride parade are "tremendously important" for the LGBTQ community. He said there's been a lot of disappointment from community members since news of the parade'scancellation, but also understanding. He hopes this will encourage more people to consider volunteering to join the board.

Safety concerns remain for some events

Other organizations, meanwhile, are opting not to host large in-person events despite lifted restrictions, due to ongoing safety concerns.

Organizers of the annual Sudbury Rocks!marathonrecently announced the fundraising event will be held virtually again this year, with participants signing up and doing runs individually.

"Being a health-care institution, our goal and our focus was that we wanted to make sure that everybody was safe and healthy. And there's still quite a bit of people who are a little bit uneasy about being in large community venues," said Yolanda Thibeault, manager of community engagement and events with the HSN Foundation.