Calgary

Calgary Pride hits rainbow crosswalk fundraising goal

Pride Calgary has reached its fundraising goal to have a rainbow crosswalk painted for this year's Pride event.

Colourful street crossing called 'a day-to-day reminder of the diverse culture that does live in Calgary'

Calgary had a rainbow crosswalk at Macleod Trail and 8th Avenue S.E. during last year's Pride festival but repainting a similar crossing this year was in doubt until the organization reached its $4,000 fundraising goal. (Calgary Pride/GoFundMe)

Pride Calgary has reached its fundraising goal to have a rainbow crosswalk painted for this year's Pride event.

The organization said earlier this month it didn't have the $4,000 necessary to make the brightly coloured crosswalk happen, and a GoFundMe page was created to gather donations.

The goal was surpassed Thursday morning, thanks in large part to an $1,815 donation from Justin Havre.

"It's just something that we felt capable of doing and ... we just want to see them get the crosswalk done for the festival," Havre said.

Craig Sklenar with Calgary Pride said the crosswalk is an important symbol for the LGBT community.

"It's a visual marking of diversity within the city," he said.

"It helps give a day-to-day reminder of the diverse culture that does live in Calgary and these other cities."

Calgary's 26th annual Pride festival runs Aug. 27 to Sept. 5, with the marquee Pride Parade on Sept. 4.