Non-stop entertainment fills the week, culminating in the jaw-dropping, sweat-inducing, clothing-optional parade. Here, our guide to the best of Pride. Plus, five things you’ll want on hand for a perfect celebration, 10 special spots for refreshment and relief, and a parade primer.

During the Week

June 16–23
Artefact: A Historical Art Event is a multimedia exhibition that celebrates Toronto’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transexual community through the visual arts. The show features paintings, photographs, sculpture, film, print, installation and performance art by local artists, including Christine Ablett, Gillian Farnsworth, Andrew Harwood and John Monteith.
Where: 519 Gallery Space, 519 Church St. (at Wellesely), 416-392-6874.
How much: Free.

June 20
Pride Toronto Gala and Awards 2006. Rub elbows with Toronto’s “gay-list,” as local heroes are celebrated at the second annual Pride Gala and Awards dinner. Hosted by comedian Maggie Cassella, this year’s ceremony honours Irshad Manji (best-selling author of The Trouble With Islam), Olympic medallist Mark Tewksbury and Sean Gehon, the fabulous MuchMusic VJ Search runner-up.
Where: Fermenting Cellar, Distillery District, 55 Mill St., 6:30 p.m.
How much: $250.

Friday, June 23

Water, Earth, Fire. Besharam, Canada’s largest monthly Bollywood party, along with South Asian get-together Queer Indian Mela, offers up a musical Pride celebration with an Eastern flair. DJ PJ and Besharam’s resident DJ and host of Masala Mixx on CKLN, DJ Amita, spin an assortment of Bollywood, soca and bhangra-infused beats.
Where: Labatt’s South Stage, Church St. (at Wood St.), 8 p.m.
How much: Free.

Central Stage. Dance with the pecs-and-biceps crowd in the closed-off parking lot across from Woody’s. A host of DJs, including Sumation (of AznXpress) and Grammy award–winner David Morales, pump out the best in R&B, house, circuit and progressive music.
Where: Central Stage, Church St. (at Maitland St.), 6 p.m.
How much: Free.

Grapefruit. Choosing Top 40 over house, the H&M-clad 20-somethings at this pop party groove to ’80s, ’90s and current hits—expect Soft Cell sandwiched between Beyoncé and Madonna. Regular Grapefruit events are packed to the brim, so expect extra-long lineups for this special Pride edition. Also: during Pride, full bar service is offered until 4 a.m.
Where: Fly Nightclub, 8 Gloucester St. (at Yonge), www.shanepercy.com
How much: $10–$20.

Club V/Shame. Will Munro revives the spirit of his iconic Vazaleen party with Shame, a Pride alternative held in the student-friendly Annex. Vazaleen’s frequency has been downgraded from once a month to once in a blue moon, so expect a much-needed release of energy at this queer-indie-arty-punk-crowd fave.
Where: Lee’s Palace, 529 Bloor St. W. (at Bathurst), 416-532-1598.
How much: $10.

Foxypride. The Gladstone Hotel Ballroom is the perfect refuge for Queer West West-ers looking to escape the Village’s Pride extravaganza. Regular Foxhole DJs Shane MacKinnon and May and Blink spin rock, retro and dance music, while the occasional slow song goes out to all the romantics in the crowd.
Where: The Ballroom, Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. (at Gladstone), 416-531-4635.
How much: $7.

The Jump-Off. GirlToronto’s Pride party caters strictly to women and the women who love them. Formerly home to a Mitsubishi car dealership, the spacious Touch Lounge features eight bars, two dance floors and a huge open-air patio in the back. Girls can get their freak on to the best in R&B, electro, hip hop, Miami bass and mash-ups, provided by a host of DJs including Breakdown and Fawn Big Canoe. Boys beware: you’ll require female accompaniment if you want to get in.
Where: Touch Lounge, 499 King St. W. (at Brant), 416-593-0311, www.girltoronto.com
How much: $20.

Saturday, June 24

The Dyke March. Lesbian, bisexual and transgendered women of all ages, races and sizes march in their own parade while their supporters, lovers, and queer brothers and straight sisters cheer from the sidelines.

Where: Starts at the corner of Church and Hayden.; moves north to Bloor; turns west and then down Yonge.; turns east on Wood and ends at Church. 2 p.m.
How much: Free.

Iconic. Local burlesque provocateurs Skin Tight Outta Sight bring together a host of titillating performances by such Church Street glitterati as Miss Kitty Galore, Canada’s Worst Handyman’s Keith Cole, and drag superstars Farra N. Hyte and Heaven Lee Hytes.
Where: VIA Rail Wellesley Stage, Wellesley St. (at Church), 8 p.m.
How much: Free.

The Nylons. What would Pride be without The Nylons? In front of a crowd of both fans and folks too young to remember them, the Juno-award winning group perform a cappella hits such as “Up The Ladder to the Roof” and the infectious “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
Where: TD Canada Trust North Stage, Church St. (at Dundonald St.), 9:30 p.m.
How much: Free.

AsianXpress Fierce and Fabulous! Resident DJ Sumation weaves together progressive house anthems and hits by radio-friendly princesses as Kelly Clarkson and the Pussycat Dolls, at this party for Asian fellas and the men who love them. This party has become so popular it’s now a biweekly attraction at 5ive nightclub, just a stone’s throw away from Boystown.
Where: 5ive Nightclub, 5 St. Joseph St., 416-964-8685, www.aznxp.com
How much: $10–$20.