Thousands celebrate Calgary Pride Parade

Thousands of people turned out today for Calgary's Pride Parade which has wrapped up in the downtown core.

The event culminated with a party at Shaw Millenium Park.

Alison Redford made a bit of  history today, by becoming the first Alberta premier to join in Calgary Pride Parade celebrations.

From a stage in Millenium Park in downtown Calgary she brought greetings and a message.

"Today, in Edmonton we celebrated in the pouring rain the 100th anniversary of the legislature building and so it was a really fun opportunity to think about what Alberta looked like a 100 years ago compared to what Alberta looks like today — and I like Alberta today."

Redford appeared earlier this summer at Edmonton's gay pride festivities.