The event was Vancouver's 2003 Gay Pride Parade.  It is a progressive city so "gay" is just another "feather in the cap" of civic pride.  Fire trucks and police squadrens hold signs that say, "serving with pride."

The night before 250,000 people watched fireworks.  I thought, "they really celebrate gay rights" until I realized that wasn't part of the parade.  Fireworks celebrated "BC Days," an anual holiday north of the border.