The gorgeous Austrian capital of Vienna celebrated Pride under bright sunshine last Saturday, with more than 150,000 people lining the city’s Ringstrasse to cheer on its annual Rainbow Parade.
Organizer Christian Högl called this year’s parade – which took the theme “United in Pride” – one of Vienna’s most successful Pride events ever.
Saturday’s Rainbow Parade was the climax of nearly a week of Pride events in the city, many of which centered around Pride Village in historic and picturesque Heldenplatz (Heroes’ Square). Highlights included a post-parade performance by London’s Dame Edna-channeling Jonathan Paul Hellyer.
With a rich gay history stretching back centuries (including the infamous Archduke Ludwig Viktor, affectionately called Luziwuzi , who courted scandal at what’s now the all-gay Kaiserbründl sauna), the city of Vienna prides itself on today being one of Europe’s most welcoming capitals.
Easily walkable and overflowing with fabulous museums, palaces, restaurants, cafes and shopping, Vienna makes for an ideal self-contained European getaway. Besides Pride, other highlights on its annual queer calendar include a unique slate of balls that span the first months of every year.
For more info about traveling to Vienna, check out the GayCities guide as well as the dedicated LGBT section of the city’s official tourism website.
Photos by Rainer Fehringer/Vienna Tourist Board & Dan Allen
