The week-long Prague Pride festival began in Prague with the hanging of the rainbow flag
Update: 08/08/2022 09:44
Issued by: 08/08/2022, 09:41
Prague – The Prague Pride festival of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people (LGBT+) started today in Prague with the hanging of the rainbow flag on the building of the Prague Municipality. The twelfth year of the show, which will last until August 14, will offer 150 events. The program culminates with a Saturday carnival parade through the center of the metropolis. At the press conference, this year’s festival was presented by its director Tom Bílý and representatives of the capital.
“This year’s theme is Heart Matters, i.e. the heart matters or a matter of the heart. It reflects the human rights aspect of the entire festival. The heart is not only in our logo, but there are also a billion hearts that beat all over the world. We want to say that on all hearts matter. It is a symbol of life, belonging, mutual love and humanity. The theme is reflected in almost all 150 festival events,” said Bílý.
In addition to the weekly program, the organizers of the debate have prepared concerts, workshops, and theater performances. The show is intended to commemorate the history of the LGBT+ people’s movement for equality, and also to raise awareness against homophobia and transphobia. It will focus on the situation in Central and Eastern Europe. According to Bílí, there is no entrance fee for most events and they are accessible free of charge.
The climax of the weekly program will be the carnival parade. It will set off on Saturday after noon from the lower part of Wenceslas Square via Na Příkopě, Celetna, Staroměstské náměstí and Pařížská to Vltava Street. Crossing the Čechův bridge, participants should continue up the stairs to Letná. The organizers will provide buses from the stairs to Letná for people with reduced mobility or for parents with strollers. 20,000 participants reported to the municipality.
In recent years, the capital has supported the festival, including financially. This year, as in previous years, a rainbow flag hangs on the municipal building. There is also a rainbow crossing in front of the town hall for the second time. The lookout tower on Petřín is also lit up in a rainbow this evening and on Saturday after the parade. Rainbow flags already appeared on the streets of the metropolis on Friday. “We are a little sad that the flag is now half or a third. We still do not live in a society that is accepting. It is sad that someone is offended enough by the rainbow flag on the flagpole to tear it down,” said Bílý.
According to previous organizers, the number of visitors to the Prague Pride festival increased every year until 2018, when 92,000 arrived. In 2019, there were 75,000 of them and 30,000 people took part in the parade, the organizers said earlier. In the last two years, the rainbow march through Prague did not take place due to the covid epidemic. In 2020, it appeared online only. Last year, part of the program was moved to outdoor spaces, a total of 25,000 people arrived.
The Prague Pride show with a parade appeared for the first time in August 2011. At that time, it caused stormy protests from conservatives. According to them, the festival was obscene and inelegantly imposed the ideology of homosexuality. This one used the then president Václav Klaus, according to whom it was necessary to fight against this phenomenon. In the following years, the protest actions gradually weakened.