1st winter Pride march takes centre stage at Winterlude

Despite the powerful winds and blistering cold, people layered on their warm clothes to take part in the second weekend of Winterlude — which included Ottawa's first ever winter Pride march.

• New winter Pride festival a celebration, reminder of fight for equality

Sunday's march commemorated 50 years since the partial decriminalization of homosexuality, while also recognizing that work still needs to be done to advance LGBTQ rights. 

Armonia, who did not want her last name used, said the march was a way to raise awareness about the experiences of people in the community. 

"I'm a trans woman, and a lot of people don't really understand what we go through and what we ask when it comes to how we want to be treated," she said. 

The march wound from Parliament Hill, down Elgin Street and then along Sparks Street. Marchers encountered a small group of around eight counter-protesters at Elgin and Sparks streets — but their bullhorn was quickly drowned out by the hundreds of Pride marchers chanting "love is love."

Kirsten Hotchkiss said they attended the march to fight for acceptance and the rights of the next generation of LGBTQ kids. 

"We still have such a long way [to go]," they said. "We still need to fight for those people and fight for the young kids who may have parents that won't accept them." 

The winter Pride finale takes place this afternoon at Bank and Sparks streets, with drag and burlesque performances. 

Winterlude around town

The weekend also featured featured ice carving competitions and dragon boat racing on the ice at Dow's Lake. 

All 7.8 kilometres of the Rideau Canal Skateway also opened on Saturday morning. 

Here are some photos and tweets from the weekend.