In a first for Pride Toronto, merchandise can be purchased online before heading out to the festival. Through a partnership with Universal Music Canada, Pride Toronto now has an online merchant portal to sell official Pride Toronto branded apparel.

"...[U]niversal saw a great opportunity to both provide killer designs and support to [Toronto Pride] when it came to the official merchandise, and an amazing way to grow our merchandising business by partnering with a strong and supportive community," says Don Kitchen, a representative from Universal.

The store can be accessed by visiting Pride Toronto's homepage and clicking on ‘Pride Store' at the top of the page, or by visiting: http://www.shoppridetoronto.com/.

The online store is a great resource because "[t]ime is always tight at festivals. With so much to see and do and places to be, sometimes you can forget to pick up that souvenir you wanted," says Kitchen. "The online store will help anyone planning on attending pride make their decision on which shirt they want to buy beforehand, or order it and have it in hand before they come."

Once in the store, customers can select from a variety of different apparel styles, available in multiple sizes.

Customers can currently only select shirts through the website, but Universal will have lots of other Pride gear available on site during the festival weekend. Other items include: wristbands, Frisbees, tote bags, necklace charms, and posters.

Check out http://www.shoppridetoronto.com to order online, or visit one of their three merchandise booths during the weekend of Pride Week: Church and Wood St., Church and Maitland, and Queen's Park.

-Words by Peter Walker, Media Committee Journalist