Here is a look at what's going on for Pride Week in Kelowna

• This year marks 25 years of Pride in Kelowna
• Bike Derby introduced because of the pandemic

After several delays caused by the pandemic, Kelowna Pride Week is up and running.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of celebrations in the city.

The downtown bike derby kicked off the in-person events despite the pouring rain 30 minutes before the start.

Participants started at the Rotary Centre for the Arts and biked through streets downtown ending at Jackknife Brewing for the Beers for Queers event, where sales from feature beers went to selected charities.

General Manager of Kelowna Pride Dustyn Baulkham, told Kelowna10 the bike derby was created because of the pandemic. However, he added it is not a substitution for their usual pride march which has been cancelled this year.

“I wouldn’t say it replaces it. I’d say it’s something different,” he said. “Normally there’s a couple thousand people down at Stuart Park. Where with this [bike derby], there’s going to be a quick gathering of people because we don’t want people hanging around and gathering in big groups.”

Baulkham added 2019 was their biggest year which had over 12,000 people show up to the pride march. Last year events were capped at 50 people due to COVID.

Pandemic-related health regulations will continue for this year’s events.

“We hoped the rules were actually going to open up, that’s why we postponed it again,” Baulkham said. “Interior Health still hasn’t given us any indication as to when the rules are going to change locally.”

He explained the whole Pride movement has grown locally in recent years but the pandemic has set things back.

“The last two years has destroyed the work what we had put in prior to that,” he explained.

Other events for Pride Week include a Trans & Non-Binary Storytelling Social Thursday night, and the Pride Festival and Cabaret take place on Saturday at the RCA.

More information on Kelowna Pride can be found on their website.