Two of Europe’s biggest pride events have announced the transition to online activities for their 2020 festivals.
Stockholm Pride has announced that their festival highlights Pride Park, Pride Parade or Pride House will not be physically held this year due to the coronavirus outbreak but many digital events, including concerts and seminars, are planned to be streamed during a three-day digital Pride Festival July 31-August 2, named Stockholm Pride Summer Stream.
Stockholm Pride Chairperson Vix Herjeryd said it feels far too important to cancel Pride altogether.
“There are far too important LGBTQ issues that we need to raise this year, such as gender-neutral family law, which is highly current in Corona times,” said Herjeryd.
“There will be live streaming concerts, activities, seminars, panel debates and even content for a younger audience, Pride Ung.
“We also plan to have a Parade event on Saturday, August 1st, where we urge everyone to flag and manifest where they are right then, and which will be laid out, documented and compiled.
“We think it’s important to have a Pride parade even if it can’t be physical this year. We also urge the City of Stockholm and other players to pay close attention to Pride Week as much as possible.”
Spain has been one of the hardest-hit countries by the COVID-19 virus and the Government’s measures to keep everyone at home has severely limited any social contact for weeks.
But after de-escalation was announced yesterday by the Spanish Government, in which the return to ‘normality’ will be phased in but social distancing measures will be maintained for a long time, Pride in Madrid will be held in a virtual format.
On June 28, the ‘official’ day of the LGTBI Pride, there will be a performance that will be broadcast online. On Wednesday, July 1, the proclamation will take place in a closed space with limited capacity according to the measures in force on those dates and which will also be teletransmitted.
During those days there will be cultural, protest and leisure activities that can also be seen through various platforms. And for Saturday, July 4, several possibilities are being proposed to celebrate the Pride March in an online mode.
The organisers of Madrid Pride will encourage citizens to participate by decorating their houses, windows and balconies so that the colours of the rainbow flag flood all the houses and streets of Madrid.
It so happens that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first Pride in History, which took place simultaneously in New York and Los Angeles in 1970, one year after the Stonewall riots.
The 2020 Madrid pride festival also marks fifteen years since the approval of Equal Marriage in Spain.
