The world’s most inspiring Pride festivals

A NYPD police officer at the annual Gay Pride Parade (Shutterstock)

The New York Pride march is the oldest in the world, starting back in 1970 to commemorate the Stonewall Riots the year before.

It is also the largest, with thousands of international participants and more people lining the route from Lower Manhattan to Greenwich Village. The parade passes the Stonewall National Monument, the first national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights and history.

The march is only one part of the celebrations, however. Revellers can also expect guided tours, street fairs, and many iconic LGBTQ+ venues throughout the village.

Amsterdam’s famous Canal Parade (Shutterstock)

It’s only natural that one of the most liberal and open cities in the world has one of the most colourful and vibrant Pride festivals.

Pride Amsterdam is marked throughout August, offering a packed calendar of concerts, street parties, open-air cinema screenings and family events.

The highlight is the Canal Parade, held over the first weekend of August, where more than 80 boats take to the city’s famous waterways, riotously decorated and jammed with brightly dressed revellers. Festivities end with a giant party on Dam Square.

Bringing a touch of Carnival to São Paulo Pride (Shutterstock)

The São Paulo LGBTQ+ Pride Parade in early June is recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as one of the largest in the world. This being Brazil, it is one of the most colourful, with a distinctly carnival vibe. It’s almost 5km long, and has taken place since 1997.

Strongly supported by local and federal government, many politicians clamber for a role on one of the colourful floats. Despite a more conservative government in power, the parade continues to flourish. São Paulo has always been a city apart.

Alcala Gate in Madrid celebrating Pride (Shutterstock)

Spain’s Pride Week starts at the end of June and while the parade is the highlight, you can also expect a closing party and an annual Mr Gay Pride Spain contest.

Madrid Pride has strong community support, and can you blame them? It is one of thebiggest Pride celebrations in Europe, leaving a trail of tinsel and glitter from close to the botanical garden in the city centre to Plaza de Colón.

Skólavörðustígur street in Reykjavik during Pride (Shutterstock)

Known as the ‘Biggest Little Pride in the world’, this colourful event in early August brings tens of thousands of people into the city centre every year to celebrate and show solidarity with the LBGTQ+ community in Reykjavik.

People of all gender identities, friends, relatives and a growing number of tourists come together to celebrate and support universal human rights.

Reykjavik Pride has been celebrated annually since 1998. This cosy little Pride was originally visited by some 1,500 onlookers. In recent years more than 200,000 people have turned out for the parade – pretty impressive, given that the national population is only around 368,000.

Twin Cities Pride in Minneapolis (Visit USA)

The most colourful of Minnesota’s festivals is Minneapolis’s Twin Cities Pride. Almost 400,000 people visit for this week-long celebration, with everything from picnics to parades.

The main festival takes place at Minneapolis’ Loring Park across a weekend in late June. Expect to LGBTQI+ food vendors and a live music stage to get you in the party mood.

If you want to explore the local scene, we suggest heading to 19 Bar, a low-key dive bar which has served the local gay community

CSD Berlin march near Brandenburg Gate (Creative Commons: Jorg Kanngierer)

Pride celebrations in Berlin are a little different from the rest of Europe. Sure, there are parties and concerts, readings and exhibitions, colourful costumes and glitter. But there is a strong, underlying political message as well – connecting to the festival’s roots.

That focus can be seen in the event’s title, CSD Berlin. CSD stands for Christopher Street Day, the street where the Stonewall riots occurred.

The Berlin Parade meanwhile, held at the end of June, is as much a protest as a celebration. Both events are a reminder that things have changed for the better, but there is still work to be done.

Revellers at Benidorm Pride (VisitBenidorm)

It may be the new kid on the block, but Benidorm’s Pride celebrations are putting the focus back on fun. Its slogan is ‘Fun, Friendly, Flirty!’ and the festivities in early September are a giddy cavalcade of street parties, discos, street parades and novelties.

Don’t miss the famed High Heel Race, where the town’s most vivacious drag queens try to sprint down Calle de la Alameda, without breaking their heels.

Pride on the streets of London (Shutterstock)

The UK’s biggest and most diverse Pride, Pride in London, is a month-long celebration culminating in a huge parade and free concert in the city’s iconic Trafalgar Square. This year celebrates 50 years since the UK’s first Pride.

The emphasis is on inclusivity, with special events for LGBTQ+ youth and families, as well as the usual all-night discos, exhibitions and theatres events. One of the oldest in Europe, Pride in London continues to fly the rainbow flag with gusto, with each year taking on a different theme.

On the way to the Zocala during Mexico City Pride (Shutterstock)

Billed as the ‘largest, wildest and most fun’ Gay Pride event in Latin America, Mexico City’s Pride March at the end of June starts at the soaring Angel of Independence victory column in Zona Rosa and ends with an all-night party in the city’s iconic Zocalo.

Already well known for its lively gay scene, Mexico City really turns it on during Pride. Little wonder then that people come from all over the world to join in the fiesta.

Pride balloons in East Lakeview, Chicago (Alamy)

This could be the party of all Pride parties. Every June, Chicago hosts a mighty bash and invites everyone to come and join. The two-day celebration includes a 6.4km parade complete with marching bands and amazing floats topped with performers. Halsted Street is where to head for most of the action, with its 35 seven-metre-high Rainbow Pylons which honour important figures within the LGBTQ+ community.

Elsewhere, there are street fairs, live music, drag acts, and dance parties – especially in the LGBQT neighbourhoods of Boystown in East Lakeview and Girlstown in Andersonville. The city is truly bursting at the seams with colour, and of course, pride.