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Pride Parade draws big crowds under sunny skies

Toronto's 32nd annual Pride Parade began under sunny skies on Sunday afternoon.

Toronto’s 32nd annual Pride Parade drew large crowds to downtown streets on Sunday, as revelers celebrated under sunny skies and sizzling 30 C heat.

The parade kicked off at 2 p.m. as dozens of floats started their journey from the intersection of Church and Bloor streets.

Participants are heading west along Bloor Street before heading south on Yonge Street, going all the way down to Gerrard Street, where the parade will head east and hit its final stretch, ending back at Church Street.

The CBC's Ivy Cuervo said the streets were packed with people, eager to take in a Pride celebration that is now one of the biggest events of its kind in the world.

"This parade here for many people is a very important one," Cuervo said.

"It's about inclusion, it's about community and, also, it's about love."

A couple from New York, in fact, is going to have the opportunity to declare their love in front of tens of thousands of strangers.

Carter Etherington and Breken Elwood will be married on board one of the floats moving along the parade route on Sunday afternoon.

The couple won a Tourism Toronto contest that paid for their trip to the city, put them up in the Windsor Arms Hotel and arranged for them to get married during the parade.

Elwood told CBC News they are ready for their big day.

"We did go and get matching suits and shirts and ties and Carter was nice enough to let me pick everything, and in a nutshell, tell him what we would be wearing on our wedding day," Elwood said.

"So we'll basically look like two giant Ken dolls."

The theme for this year’s parade was "Celebrate and Demonstrate," and like in years past, the event drew veteran participants and first-timers alike as well as Torontonians, tourists and out-of-towners.

For 17-year-old Cassidy Shipman of London, Ont., it was her first time making the trip to Toronto for the Pride Parade.

"I enjoy being here with all the positive people," Shipman told The Canadian Press.

"I'm gay and wanted to show my support. It's just really fun.”

Organizers say about 158 groups were taking part in Sunday’s parade, including Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, which has been a focus of controversy and cancelled plans to march in last year’s event.

The parade is the final event marking 10 days of Pride in the city.