BELLEVILLE ­– Things just got a little more colourful in Belleville.

The fourth annual Pride Parade marched its way from the Belleville Fairgrounds to West Zwick’s Park on Saturday.

The parade was just one of many events that occurred this week in celebration of Pride Week which also included a disco themed pre-pride party at the Belleville Pub, a Men’s only clinic at the health unit and more.

Stacey Love-Jolicoeur from the Belleville Pride Committee said she couldn’t believe the turnout. 

“Pride week is getting bigger and bigger and it’s getting really important because it really shows community involvement,” she said. “Pride really gives people the opportunity to be part of the community and to be their true authentic selves.”

Love-Jolicoeur noted that the Pride Parade would be the visual message of love and acceptance that the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning) community wish to be known for. 

“Well we can see just from the atmosphere everybody here is really, really accepting of each other and that’s what it’s all about,” she said. “We’re showing our pride.”

She also noted that some of the banners in the parade would act as a tribute and share messages of respect in light of the victims of last month’s Orlando shooting at Pulse nightclub.

“It’s a tribute but it also sends the message that we’re not going to be silenced,” she said. “It’s a real opportunity for people to really start to express themselves.”

Bay of Quinte MP Neil Ellis was also in attendance for the parade donning a rainbow coloured sign.

“I haven’t missed a parade yet,” he said. “With the conditions in the world today, we need to love everybody and enjoy and rejoice the different qualities in different people. You can see that in this riding.”

The former mayor of Belleville also mentioned that it was great to see how much the parade had grown since the very first one four years ago.

“It was a great day that day and as we see it over the years, more and more people are coming and it’s just a great day to celebrate,” he said. “We have a great group of people in our community, a great group of volunteers and a great acceptance.”

Gilles Charette, chair of the 2016 Pride Committee, said that this year’s Pride Week events had some of the highest attendance ever and that he couldn’t have been happier.

“We had 28 groups show up and register to march in the parade which is definitely up from years past,” he said. “We’ve also got a huge crowd at the Lion’s Pavilion for Pride in the Park.”

The parade ended at West Zwick’s Park for another event called Pride in the Park.

Members of the public are encouraged to join in the festivities which include a community fair, a free barbecue, and events/games over the course of the day.

But for Charette, he said that the importance of the events that occurred for Pride Week were really about bringing people from all walks of life together in a safe and respectful setting.

“This is just a place where you can really just let your hair down and be completely yourself for a day and that’s really important,” he said. “Even though (LGBTQ people) have full equality in the law, and that was something that was hard fought, our safety is never guaranteed. Places like this are safe places.”

Charette also said that his committee would continue to work hard and plan even more events to integrate the community together throughout the year.