The 24th Belgian Pride parade will take place in Brussels on Saturday 18 May, under the theme “All for One”. In total over 80 delegations take part, with organiser expecting last year’s attendance record to be broken.
This year, Belgian pride highlights “intersectionality” in society and the multipiple discriminations faced gays and lesbians from ethnical minority groups living in Belgium.
"Intersectionality is also an obvious reference to the Stonewall riots in New York in 1969, just 50 years ago," said Cyrille Prestianni, president of The Belgian Pride. "These incidents marked the beginning of a fight that the LGBTI + community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and other people) is still supporting today."
Starting at 12 pm on Saturday, the festivities begin in the Pride Village on Mont des Arts.
The Pride Parade kicks off at 13:45 pm from the Pride Village, and will be lead by Cesár Sampson, a singer in last year’s Eurovision. At 14:30 pm the parade is scheduled to leave the village and will pass by Rue Ravenstein, Arenberg, de l'Ecuyer, des Fripers, South Station and Lombard before returning to the Pride Village.
Cars will be banned to enter the Pride route. Public transport will also be banned between 12:00 pm and 19:00 pm through Rue Ravenstein and from 14:00 pm and 19:00 pm on the rest of the parade route. Lots of concerts and parties will be organisers in the city starting 17:00 pm.
Organisers have announced that extra security measures will be implemented to assure the safety of festival goers. Concrete blocks will be placed at various spots and security checks will be carried out at the entrance to the Pride Village. Organisers advice against bringing rucksacks.
The Brussels Times
