On Saturday, Aug. 22, pagans from all over Vancouver Island will come together for the first time at the Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds Rotary Bowl to celebrate 11 years of Vancouver Island Pagan Pride.
After 10 successful years of celebrations in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island Pagan Pride is on the move to share the festivities with other parts of the Island.
Pagan Pride Day is an international project that promotes tolerance and understanding between people with different belief systems through education, activism, charity and community. The time of year is carefully chosen to celebrate the harvest and share the fruits of our efforts with our community.
Vancouver Island Pagan Pride Day aims to show the public what paganism is about through a day-long collection of workshops, rituals and demonstrations. It’s also a time for the pagan community to come together and celebrate our diversity with live entertainment, vendor tables with goods and services from pagan or pagan friendly businesses and organizations.
“I’m very excited to be bringing Pagan Pride to the Comox Valley,” says Mary Malinski, high priestess of the Circle of the Sacred Muse and maiden of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church of Canada.
“There are a lot of people who are curious about Paganism, or maybe have been practising for a while, and this is an opportunity for all of us to connect with the broader community, make a contribution and have fun doing it.”
Each year the pagan community dedicates its hard work and energy towards raising donations for a charitable organization that has a positive effect in the community at large.
This year Pagan Pride is collecting non-perishable food items and donations for Lush Valley Food Action Society and the Comox Valley Food Bank.
The festival will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free, though donations for the Food Bank and LUSH Valley are encouraged.
A schedule of events will be located on our website at: http://vipaganpride.org