Jasper, Alberta is not an easy place to get to. It’s easily an eight hour drive from Vancouver, five hours from Calgary or four from Edmonton. And, being that you’ve got to pass through any number of one-horse towns en route to the alpine destination, it’s not a place commonly associated with an LGBTQ pride celebration. However, our beautiful and vast neighbouring province has a few things to tell us, and it’s high time we start listening.
COMMUNITY
Pride in Jasper is a family affair, and not just because there are an abundance of family-friendly activities and entertainment throughout the four-day festival. You only have to spend 10 minutes along Connaught Drive to feel the small-town warmth that permeates this world-class destination. Independent businesses line the streets here, and rainbows dot every window, lamp post and flag pole. Seven years ago, Lynn Wannop co-owner of Coco’s Café, placed a rainbow sticker in the window of her popular java stop and things have never been the same. Though initially there was some less than favourable rhetoric, Wannop would ultimately sew the seeds that would grow to become the Jasper Pride festival. Proving allies make a difference, Wannop says, everyone should feel safe and welcome in their own community.
DIVERSITY
Anyone who has been to a Pride festival knows there are guarantees. It will always be someone’s first Pride, there will undoubtedly be lots of leather, bare skin, and too much bass. And, the men will outnumber the women significantly. Not so in Jasper. According to the festival society, 54 per cent of the attendees are women and this year, LGBTQ revellers came from all over Canada, the US and for the first time, Europe. In terms of events, Jasper made sure there was something for everyone. From pillow making workshops and afternoon campfire sing-a-longs with s’mores, to a GSA-led coffeehouse for LGBTQ youth, drag queens and kings, burlesque, boylesque, guided ice-cave adventures, skiing, snowboarding, movie nights, live music and even a Pride Beer, brewed especially for the festival by John Palko, of Jasper Brewing Company.
ANNUAL PRIDE GALA
Jasper is a town full of progressive, creative, classy types who also know how to party. So, when the festival board decided this year’s theme would be 007: From Jasper with Love, to mark its seventh year, the people of Jasper went full throttle. Dapper tuxedos adorned with rainbow hues, Sean Connery-era terrycloth numbers, and Goldeneye-clad onesies mingled at the ice-luge martini bar before a glittery, gender-bending grandstand of live performance featuring Edmonton boylesque troupe, Man Up, local drag queens and Virgin Radio’s Ian & Chelsea from 104.9 Edmonton. The entire business community of Jasper donated prizes for the silent auction and of course, there was a whole lot of Pride beer.
JASPER PARK LODGE
In a town of 5,000 people, one traffic light and zero Starbucks, life is generally pretty quiet. But, for four days each March, Jasper welcomes over 1,000 LGBTQ folks and allies and the hotels, restaurants and streets can fill up fast. The Jasper Park Lodge, a Fairmont property located a 10 minute drive from the center of town, is the perfect place to breathe. JPL welcomes day guests to their spa, hot tub & pool, art gallery and shops, with fine and casual dining all nestled in the mountains a stone’s throw from the gorgeous Lac Beauvert. Bonus – you’re stumbling distance from your bed the evening of the gala, held each year in the Beauvert Ballroom.
JASPER
Alberta’s year-round rocky mountain wonderland. Need I say more?
