One of the world’s biggest dancehall artists is coming to town for the festival. Jamaican singer/songwriter Spice, aka the Queen of Dancehall, will also perform as part of the Pride Weekend kick-off lineup.
Pride Toronto, a Canadian LGBTQ organization, has announced that Spice, the Queen of Dancehall and a recent MOBO Awards nominee, will be the headline act for their Pride 2022 Festival celebrations in June next year.
Spice, the “So Mi Like It” singer, was recently nominated in the Best Reggae Act category of the 2021 MOBO Awards.
Spice was lauded on the organization’s website as the performer who would set the tone for the celebration with her performance.
“Pride Toronto will kick off Festival Weekend with Jamaican-born dancehall recording artist, singer and songwriter Grace Hamilton, AKA Spice. Known as the “Queen of Dancehall”, Spice is recognized to be one of the biggest dancehall artists in the world….,” Pride Toronto noted in its description of the St. Catherine High School old girl.
According to the group, the festivities would “be organized in alignment with the City of Toronto’s Public Health recommendations”.
“The full month of programming will begin on June 1, concluding with the annual Festival Weekend on June 24-25-26, 2022,” they noted.
The organization said it was continuing a legacy which “is deeply intertwined with the rich, progressive history of Toronto’s queer community”.
It noted that the annual Pride parade began more than 50 years ago as a means of protest and “continues today to create community, celebrate achievements, and honour the history of the movement”.
Apart from Spice’s performance, the group said that it would have a City of Toronto Flag Raising on June 1, 2022, Cabana Pool Party on June 15, and an Island Party on June 19.
Spice is known for songs such as “Cool It,” “Romping Shop” with incarcerated Vybz Kartel, and “Go Down Deh” with Shaggy and Sean Paul.
In a new change, gas-powered vehicles and flatbed floats will be banned from the Pride Parade as part of efforts to make the event more environmentally sustainable and “reduce corporate brand presence on the festival’s footprint,” a statement on the Pride’s website reads.
“The parade has come a long way from its beginnings and in a continued effort to maintain and honour our political grassroots history as well as to align with new sustainability efforts, Pride Toronto will be eliminating the use of flatbed floats and gas-powered vehicles in 2022 and will be moving to smaller green-powered vehicles,” the statement adds.
“We recognize that this is not the finite answer to the concerns brought forth by the community, but this is the first step.”
Parade participants must now select an “environmentally sustainable” vehicle, which can include a trailer no more than 14 feet in length. This rule is designed to “maintain the parade viewership experience while negotiating and balancing brand presence,” Pride said.
Full details of the new rules will be announced at a Parade launch event in January.
Toronto Pride, and Prides in other global cities, have long been criticized for drifting away from the original movement’s activist roots. The event now heavily relies on government funding and corporate sponsorship, and Pride Month brings with it a barrage of advertising as Fortune 500 brands and Bay Street financial institutions position themselves as community allies
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