This document summarizes five LGBT destinations within a day's drive of Ottawa. It describes Toronto's Church Wellesley Village and its Halloween celebrations. It discusses Kingston's efforts to be inclusive to LGBT visitors. It outlines the Camping Plein-Bois gay campground near Montreal. It describes Montreal's pedestrianized Ste-Catherine Street and their summer-long street parties. And it provides details on Montreal Pride celebrations from August 10-15.

1. FIVE worth the drive
for LGBT travellers
By Daniel Drolet, Citizen Special August 7, 2010
There are more and more travel possibilities for lesbians and gays as cities develop ways to
attract this market. Here are five ideas for LGBT travellers within a day's
drive of Ottawa:
Toronto's Church/
Wellesley village
Costumes galore at Halloween
Why it's worth the drive: Everybody knows about Toronto Pride, the massive early summer
celebration that draws hundreds of thousands of people to Toronto each year. But there are other
events in Toronto's gay village, which is centred on the corner of Church and Wellesley streets.
Halloween, for example, is always a big deal, and it traditionally involves a week-long party.
The format changes from year to year, but the highlight this year is a block bash on Sunday, Oct.
31. Three blocks of Church Street are closed to traffic from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. for the event. The
party is preceded by a week of commercial and community events.
Tip: Devilicious is a dining event run in conjunction with Halloween in Toronto's gay village. A
number of restaurants offer special prix-fixe dinners in the days leading up to Halloween.
Where: Church/Wellesley gay village in Toronto.
When: This year, Halloween events take place Oct. 26-31.
Driving time from Ottawa: About five hours
How to get there: Church Street is parallel to Yonge, Toronto's main drag.
More: www.churchwellesleyvillage.ca

2. Kingston
A city that's gone the extra distance to be inclusive
Why it's worth the drive: Kingston has made a deliberate effort to reach out to LGBT visitors.
Deanna Davies of VisitKingston.ca says it started with sensitizing local businesses to the market,
and this went so far as to send a band from Fort Henry, the Fort Henry Drums, to take part in this
year's Pride parade in Toronto. "We want to be open and welcoming, and we'd never made any
effort to speak directly to that group," says Bryan Mercer, the director of marketing for the St.
Lawrence Parks Commission, the organization that runs Fort Henry. It's not that Kingston or Fort
Henry have created a range of specific LGBT events -- it's that they have gone out of their way
to make most standard events inclusive. This reflects a growing trend in LGBT travel --
mainstreaming, or including LGBT travellers in general events.
Tip: On Sept. 17, Thousand Islands Cruises is organizing a three-hour dinner cruise that is also a
fundraiser for HARS (HIV/AIDS Regional Services).
See www.staygaykingston.com/ events.htm for details.
Where: Anywhere in Kingston.
When: Anytime.
Driving time from Ottawa: About two hours.
How to get there: Take Highway 416 south to the 401, then take the 401 west to Kingston.
More: tourism.kingstoncanada.com/en
Camping Plein-Bois
A campground for gay men
Why it's worth the drive: For many years now, this private gay campground near Montreal has
been mixing outdoorsiness with gay nightlife. The result is a unique institution -- a men-only tent
city in the woods where campers can boogie in a disco, eat meals in an onsite restaurant, and
while away rainy days singing karaoke or participating in one of the many special events. Many
campers actually live there for the entire summer -- and take campsite decoration to extravagant
extremes. There's no lake, but there is a salt-water pool.
Tip: You can rent a tent or a trailer if you don't have your own.
Where: 550 chemin St-Henri,
Ste-Marthe, Que.

3. When: Through to the end of September
Driving time from Ottawa: About 90 minutes
How to get there: Take Highway 417 east from Ottawa. When you cross into Quebec, it becomes
Autoroute 40. Take Exit 17 onto Highway 201 south. Turn right on chemin St-Henri, about 4.5
kilometres from the exit.
More: www.campingpleinbois.com
Montreal's Ste-Catherine Street Pedestrian Mall
A summer-long street party
Why it's worth the drive: A portion of Ste-Catherine Street East around the Beaudry métro
station has evolved into a vibrant gay village. For the last few years, a large swath of Ste-
Catherine Street in that village gets closed to car traffic in the summer. The result has been the
birth of a semi-permanent street fair as pedestrians take over the road, and bars and restaurants
spread out onto the pavement. It's a great place to see and be seen, says Daniel Baylis. Baylis is a
blogger who writes for Tourisme Montreal about the city's gay life. (See www.tourisme-
montreal.org/Blog). He says the street's energy is particularly vibrant at dusk on Friday and
Saturday evenings.
Tip: There is special programming on the street all summer -- things like outdoor movies or
street performers. See www.aireslibres.com for a schedule of events.
Where: Ste-Catherine Street East from Berri through to Papineau.
When: This year the street closing is in effect until Sept. 13.
How to get there: Take Highway 417 east from Ottawa. When you cross into Quebec, it becomes
Autoroute 40. Follow Autoroute 40 to Montreal. Exit onto Autoroute 15 south, then take the
Ville-Marie Expressway (Autoroute 720). Take Exit 6 (St-Laurent/Berri) and head north to Ste-
Catherine. If you're already in Montreal, you can take the métro to the Beaudry station.
More: www.aireslibres.com/
Montreal Pride
The party after the party -- the one before our party
Why it's worth the drive: Montreal is a party city and it has not one but two major LGBT
festivals in the summer. The first, called Divers-Cité, ran July 26 to Aug. 1. It has evolved into
more of a cultural/arts event. The second festival, Célébrations, is Montreal's official Pride party.
It runs Aug. 10 to 15, and ends only five days before Ottawa's Capital Pride festival gets under
way on Aug. 20. Montreal's Célébrations is a community-based event, and ends with the

4. traditional Pride parade, followed by a massive outdoor dance. New this year is Queer of the
Year, an international competition where people from around the world are being brought to
Montreal to compete for the title.
Tip: The Pride Parade starts at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 15. This year, it takes a new, longer route
-- along René-Lévesque Boulevard from Guy to Sanguinet.
When: Célébrations runs Aug. 10 to 15.
Where: The gay village along
Ste-Catherine Street East.
Driving time from Ottawa: About two hours.
How to get there: Take Highway 417 east from Ottawa. When you cross into Quebec, it becomes
Autoroute 40. Follow Autoroute 40 to Montreal. Exit onto Autoroute 15 south, then take the
Ville-Marie Expressway (Autoroute 720). Take Exit 6
(St-Laurent/Berri) and head north to René Lévesque.
More: www.fiertemontrealpride.com
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