World Pride, which takes place in a different location every other year, has just come to a close in Scandinavia. This year’s festival ran from August 12-22 in both Copenhagen (Denmark) and Malmö (Sweden).
Malmo hosted an opening parade, while Copenhagen hosted a closing Pride parade on Saturday. Both cities hosted events for the EuroGames LGBTQ sports tournament, which took place during the ten days.
World Pride began in 2000. The last one took place in New York in 2019, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.
Malmo and Copenhagen lie 40km apart, across a stretch of water connected by the iconic Oresund Bridge. This amazing feat of engineering was lit in rainbow colors for the festival.
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The Copenhagen closing parade on Saturday attracted tens of thousands. However, to reduce the numbers and threat of Covid infection, organizers split it into six separate Pride marches, which made their way through the city and came together in one of the city’s biggest parks at the end.
Performances took place in the main City Hall Square, while a live video feed relayed these to those those gathered in the park (to avoid too many people gathering in one place).
Among those to provide entertainment at the event was the US singer and dancer Todrick Hall.
One of those attending both the Eurogames and closing parade was Juraj Kusnir.
“The slogan of this year World Pride and Eurogames were #youareincluded. And CPH2021 has lived up to its slogan. During the last week I could feel support and acceptance from all sides. The most important thing was that everybody could be themself and we could celebrate it those via sport.
“I feel CPH2021 made a huge impact on removing the stereotypes and voicing issues of LGBTQ+ community. As Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in his speech on this year parade – Love always wins. She is absolutely right, and CPH2021 is a proof of that.”
Another, Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, had travelled from Orlando in the US.
“I am so honored to have participated in the festival, parade, and human rights conference at WorldPride. We came to share Orlando’s story with leaders from the Pride movement from across the globe. Our common values of inclusion and diversity bonds us together across borders. I am so thankful for this experience.”
Check out more images from last weekend below.
Related: Now’s the time to start planning your well-deserved Pride vacation in Greater Miami
