Okanagan Wiccans, Druids, Pagans, Witches, Heathens, Shamans and members of many other earth-based faiths will gather once again to celebrate their Pagan Pride Aug. 6 at Cenotaph Park in Vernon.
More than 100 gatherings around the world will join together in this annual world-wide celebration of Pagan and earth-based faiths, said local coordinator Sable Aradia, a Witch born and raised in Vernon.
“Okanagan Pagan Pride Day will feature informative speakers, a Druid harvest ritual, live entertainment, and interesting Pagan, metaphysical, and ‘green’ vendors,” she said. “Bring a non-perishable food item to support the food bank, and get your Tarot cards read for your donation to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s Run for the Cure.”
Throughout the time of the harvest (August to October,) people will join other Pagan Pride celebrations around the world. Aradia expects that the Okanagan event will draw somewhere between 50 to 150 participants between local Pagans and the curious.
The Pagan Pride Project was started in the U.S. in 1997 by Cecylyna Dewr and the Pagan Awareness League with a purpose of fighting the discrimination that often faces those who follow earth-based religions through education, charity and public awareness. Pagan Pride events include a food drive in the spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude that is part of most Pagan Autumn Equinox celebrations.
Sponsored by the Congregationalist Wiccan Association of BC and The Threads That Bind Us, the celebration takes place from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information, see http://paganprideokanagan.webs.com.
