Expect Yaletown and the West End to bloom this Vancouver Pride season with floral rainbows, flower-bombed benches, swings and selfie frames. From July 27 to August 1 in conjunction with the Vancouver Pride Festival, Fleurs de Villes’ signature mannequins decked out in their best blossoms will pay homage to the LGBTQIA+ community in the city.
The displays have been put together by ingenious local florists such as Adele Rae Florist, Avelyn Florist, Écorce Flowers, Elope With Us, Flower Factory, Get a Bouquet, Greenscape Design & Decor, J Events Planning and Design, Manites Flower Shop, Rex & Moss, ROA Events and Design, and Tila Flower Boutique.
Many of these talented florists have done previous installations with Fleur de Villes since its inception in 2015. To date, the Vancouver-based company has produced floral events in 23 cities in Canada, the United States, the UK and Australia, celebrating the talent of over 500 florists.
One of the mannequins on Davie is in honour of Jimbo the Canadian designer and drag queen best known for competing in the first season of Canada's Drag Race and RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World. The other pays homage to Bob the Drag Queen who won the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.
“Yaletown has always been a diverse community. The first lesbian bar in Vancouver, The Quadra, was located in Yaletown and one of the longest operating gay bars, The Gandy Dancer, was located on Hamilton Street," says Executive Director of the Yaletown BIA, Annette O’Shea of the choice to use Yaletown as part of the Pride installations. There will be 11 installations in Yaletown one celebrating 25 years of the community's roundhouse.
O'Shea says that the budding art "acknowledges the diversity and the beauty of the Pride community.”
Teri Smith, Executive Director of the West End BIA echoes the sentiment saying, “We are thrilled to welcome back Pride celebrations in our community this summer, including the Parade, Sunset Beach Festival, and Davie Street activations. We’re equally as excited to newly partner with Fleurs de Villes to bring several incredible Pride-themed floral displays to Davie Village. The West End will be fun, festive, colourful and full of love to celebrate Pride week.”
