Still smarting from Pride month? Godspeed, gay voyager! Some of Europe’s biggest and best Pride events have yet to take place this summer, and there’s still plenty of time to get in on the action.
So grab your passport and the Ibuprofen, and get ye across the pond for some of the world’s hottest homopaloozas.
Click through for Europe’s Top 10 Post-June Prides.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_21pTO4dXU
London WorldPride
Through July 8
With a staggering array of performances, exhibits, parties, and events, this third-ever incarnation of WorldPride comes smack in the middle of London‘s already amazing Diamond Jubilee/Olympic summer. The main parade — with the theme “One World, One Pride, One Voice” — will wend through central London on Saturday, July 7, followed by performances (featuring headliners Boy George and Deborah Cox) into the evening at Trafalgar Square.
CSD Cologne
Through July 8
Upwards of a million folks have hit recent editions of CSD Cologne, making it not just Germany’s largest Pride event, but one of the biggest in all of Europe. A street festival at the city center Heumarkt runs from Friday evening to Sunday (July 6 to 8) with scores of speeches and performances. The parade — with the theme “Yes, I do!” — starts on Sunday, July 8, at noon.
Budapest Pride
July 1 to 8
At the doorstep of Europe’s dangerous-for Pride east, Budapest Pride boldly marches on, this year right on the heels of the LGBT EuroGames. Myriad events (including a gay film fest) will take place throughout the week, with the main parade starting at 4pm on Saturday, July 7.
Stockholm Pride
July 31 to August 4
Scandinavia’s biggest Pride returns to gayrific Stockholm, still euphoric over Sweden’s 2012 win at the Eurovision Song Contest. Former Eurovision great Lena Philipsson will be among the many performers during the several-day festivities, centered mostly around the city center Pride House and the south-side Pride Park. The parade kicks off on Saturday, August 4, at 1pm.
Amsterdam Pride
August 3 to 5
Amsterdam Pride’s highlight — extremely popular with locals, gay and straight alike — is the Saturday Canal Parade, where the floats actually float through the picturesque Dutch city’s waterways. Some 300 other Pride-related parties and cultural events are also slated for the weekend.
Antwerp Pride
August 6 to 12
Though it hosted Belgium’s first-ever gay rights demonstration in 1979, Antwerp has let Brussels do the marching since 1996, preferring its Pride to be more dispersed across a series of events than centered on a procession. This year though, as Antwerp gears up to host next year’s Outgames, it moves its Pride to August, and debuts its very own parade on Saturday, August 11, at 2pm.
Reykjavik Pride
August 7 to 12
Iceland’s premier (and okay, only) Pride event attracts nearly 100,000 people — not bad, considering only about 320,000 people live in the whole country. Among the many events will be a Queer Cruise of the Reykjavik‘s harbor, and a Queer Literary Walk of the city center
Prague Pride
August 13 to 19
After a smashing debut last year, Prague Pride returns this year for its sophomore effort, with even more cutting-edge events all week long, and that surefire sign of Pride success: sponsorship by Absolut. The parade on Saturday, August 18 will once again be followed by an evening of performances (including Israel’s The Young Professionals) on the gorgeous city-center Strelecky Island.
Copenhagen Pride
August 14 to 19
Denmark’s biggest Pride hits the lovely capital of Copenhagen in mid-August, with a host of events including the popular Drag Night and a musical Pride Show. The parade sets forth from the Town Hall at 1pm on Saturday, August 18.
Manchester Pride
August 17 to 27
Spanning nearly two weeks, Manchester‘s Pride includes the excellent Pride Fringe Festival, featuring more than 40 performances, exhibits, and events; the Big Weekend, a Friday-to-Monday street extravaganza in the city’s renowned Gay Village (setting for the original UK “Queer as Folk” series); and the Saturday parade, beginning at 1pm on August 25, and taking the theme “Queer’d Science” in honor of code-breaking British homo hero Alan Turing.
LadyL
(sigh) Only wish I could…