“It is the biggest event of summertime in Prague” said the organizer of Prague Pride Association
The Prague Pride Festival happens every year since 2011, the festival was the main reason why the Prague Pride association was created in first place and now-a-days the association is also covering many more LGBT topics. The festival gather people from different locations in Czech Republic and other countries, different ages, genders and also counts with the presence of artists.
The LGBTQ+ community in Prague is growing as the support of the rest of the Czech Republic population. With the support of the Prague’s mayor since 2015 and the participation of other politicians, members of political parties and different groups around the Czech Republic, it is easy to notice how the festival grew over the last few years.
On its first edition, the parade had a 25.000 total of visits according to the Prague Pride webpage, and just last month (August, 2018) the total of visits surprised the organizers of the event, reaching a total of 400.000 visitors.
In interview with one of the Prague Pride Association organizers, Bohdana Rambouskova told us how the event was and what are the aspirations for the future.
J: What do you consider to be the best moment from last month?
BR: I can’t single out just one moment that was the best, there were many best moments from Monday till Sunday when we finished, but of course I would say that Saturday and the Prague Pride parade through the city center is always absolutely overwhelming […] This year the weather was wonderful, the people were wonderful, until the end of the program there were still around 30.000 people staying at Letná and being with us and enjoying the great day. So yes, I think that it will be the thing that will stay in my memory for a long time.
J: Would you say that is still necessary to organize Prague Pride and if so, why?
BR: Absolutely. Prague Pride or Pride in Czech Republic is different from prides in the western part of Europe, we are not just a commercial event. We still have to fight for LGBTQ rights in Czech Republic […] Czech Republic is considered as the most open or tolerant country from the former eastern bloc, but that is not good enough for us. We want the same rights for LGBT people and heterosexual majorities. So, we still have many things to fight for, such as equal marriage. Right now, we have ongoing campaign for equal marriage and in two weeks the Czech parliament should discuss it for the first time in history.
J: The Prague pride is probably something that is evolving every year, where do you see the future of Prague pride being?
BR: We hope that the future will be just a commercial festival for fun because it won’t be any reason to organize it other than being together and enjoying life, but I think it is still far future.
Featured Image by gaytravel4u.com
