First St. Margaret's Bay Pride festival aims to connect 2SLGBTQ+ people and fight hate
More than a dozen events planned for the festival in June and July
What began as a small group of friends looking to connect 2SLGBTQ+ people in their community has turned into a 15-person organizing committee for St. Margaret's Bay Pride's first festival.
The Pride organization was formed earlier in 2025 and serves communities in the St. Margarets Bay area just outside Halifax.
"One of the things that we've noticed since living here is that there isn't a lot of visibility around 2SLGBTQ Pride," said Tania Cheng, one of the organizers, who moved to the area about four years ago and previously lived in Toronto.
"Especially in rural areas … folks can feel potentially more isolated."
Cheng, along with their wife and friends, wanted to change that.
The new Pride organization has been inviting businesses and groups in the St. Margarets Bay area to be involved in the Pride festival. They've received many positive responses, said Cheng.
"It just goes to show that there is a need and an interest for this here."
More than a dozen events are planned for June and July, with most being free and family-friendly. A trail walk to the Hubbards Barn, which will host a picnic and market, will close out the festival on July 26.
The organization is being supported by the Rural Communities Foundation of Nova Scotia, a registered charity that recently launched a Rural Pride Fund.
The fund allows new Pride groups that are not formally incorporated to receive individual donations and sponsorships through the foundation, without the need to try to administer the money themselves.
"That introduces a lot of extra challenges," said Erika Rolston, executive director of the foundation. As examples, she pointed to questions around whose bank account money would sit in, or potential issues with the Canada Revenue Agency.
"This helps put some of that infrastructure in place so that those … groups can just set about the business of organizing the Pride activities," said Rolston, who is also queer.
"Ideally, it will give … organizers sort of the breathing space to build the momentum that they need to in their community activities."
Rolston said the goal is for organizations to eventually become incorporated, with the fund serving as a support in the early stages.
For Cheng, fighting escalating hate toward queer and trans communities is another reason to do the work of starting a Pride organization and staging events.
"St. Margarets Bay … can be a welcoming and inclusive place for folks to live," she said.
"That we have built a stronger sense of queer community here than we ever did living in downtown Toronto, I think, is an indicator of that."
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