For the second year in a row, Pride Amsterdam is celebrated soberly as a result of the corona measures. That's an extra shame this year, because Pride would now be celebrating its 25th anniversary.
The austere celebration means no street and square parties and no boat parade through the canals, traditionally the highlight of the major LGBTI event. Nevertheless, there is a lot on the agenda. For example, on August 7, the Pride Walk, a march for freedom and equality, will be walked from the RAI to Dam Square.
In the Vondelpark there is the open-air exhibition Celebrating Diversity, which looks back on 25 years of Pride on the basis of photos. The Student Hotel (renamed The Pride Hotel for the occasion) again produces Pride TV 24 hours a day, which can be seen for free anywhere in the Netherlands via the OUTtv TV channel. The exhibition Amsterdam Regenboogstad, 10 years of Pride will run in the City Archives until 25 October. There are also lectures, documentaries and (music) performances by Dolly Bellefleur, among others.
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Part of Amsterdam's public transport will run in rainbow colors in the coming year, until after Pride in 2022. The public transport companies have had three buses and a tram stickered with rainbows and the word 'welcome' in different languages, to make visible "that all people are welcome in public transport and should feel safe there", according to the operators involved. .
The Pride Pilgrimage started in Utrecht on Friday. A group of religious LGBTI people walks on a pilgrimage past eleven churches between Utrecht and Amsterdam, with a short celebration in each church. The tour ends on Saturday afternoon in the Westerkerk, at the Homomonument.
Last Thursday André van Duin ceremonially struck the first coin at that monument in honor of 25 years of Pride Amsterdam. On the coin is a fist containing the rainbow flag.
The theme this year is 'Take pride in us'. People are invited to be proud of "anyone who doesn't live up to the straight norm," Pride director Lucien Spee de Castillo Ruiz said.
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