Pride in Gloucestershire shortlisted for EuroPride 2027
Prides in Italy, Lithuania, Spain are also competing to host
EuroPride, the annual amplification of one European Pride, has named the four Prides bidding to host EuroPride 2027.
The four Pride contenders are Turin, Vilnius, Torremolinos, as well as Gloucestershire.
The candidates have five months to complete their bids, which the European Pride Organisers Association will publish on 6 September. After voting the winner will then be announced on 2 November.
EuroPride, which began in London in 1992, will soon take place in Thessaloniki, Greece from 21-29 June this year. Next year Lisbon will host followed by Amsterdam which will host both WorldPride and EuroPride 2026.
Lenny Emson, the President of the European Pride Organisers Association which licenses EuroPride, said, “With the increase in right-wing and far-right governments and politicians across Europe, Pride events are becoming ever more important as an opportunity for the LGBTI+ community to come together and show their strength in numbers and togetherness. EuroPride continues to grow in importance and as a stand against the weaponisation of LGBTI+ rights in politics wherever it takes place.”
“The variety and diversity in the organisations bidding for EuroPride 2027 is a wonderful expression of the variations of the Pride movement in Europe. We have a very rural Pride, a Pride in a very touristic city, a Pride in a famously historic city, and a Pride in a former Soviet-occupied country: we have a lot to consider and a lot to choose from!”
Pride in Gloucestershire
Richard Stevens (he/him), Chairperson of Pride in Gloucestershire, said: “2027 will mark 15 years since EuroPride was last held in the UK. The UK, once known for its strong LGBTI+ credentials has seen a continuous decline in not only its international standing but also community confidence and fear from a rise in hate crime and creeping influence of extremists.
“With Gloucestershire’s reputation for hosting world-class events coupled with our reputation for being inclusive and community-focused, across a whole region, we feel that we will be able to deliver a EuroPride with impact that empowers the LGBTI+ community not just in the UK but across the whole of Europe”.
Torino Pride
Alessandro Battaglia, Coordinator of Torino Pride’s candidacy, said: “Turin EuroPride 2027 keeps the spotlight on the Italian situation, which is still behind not only relating to LGBTQ+ rights. It would also be a chance to highlight how much one of the EU founding countries – among the most visited in the world – needs to seriously start a path towards inclusivity and let go of its homo-transphobic right-wing legacy.
“Turin is no coincidence: the city is the birthplace of the Italian LGBTQ+ movement and, more recently, of the great development in LGBTQ+ rights. Our ambition – through EuroPride – is that Turin becomes the driving force for nationwide change.”
Baltic Pride Vilnius
Vladimir Simonko (he/him), Executive Director of LGL Baltic Pride Vilnius, said: “I am delighted that Vilnius will be bidding to host EuroPride for the first time. I am sure that EuroPride would become a celebration for everyone, including LGBTI activists from Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, who found safety in Vilnius. It is symbolic that Lithuania will hold the position of Presidency of the Council of the European Union during Pride.
“Lithuania remains the only Baltic country with no legal protection for same-sex relationships and we are certain that the possibility to organise EuroPride 2027 in Vilnius would have a long-lasting positive effect on the situation of the LGBTI community in Lithuania.”
Torremolinos Pride
José Ignacio Martínez Pérez (he/him), President of ACOGAT Torremolinos, said: “We want to change the perception that Europe has of Torremolinos, rediscovering Torremolinos, as well as its history. To remember “Pasaje Begoña”, a space of freedom and a multitude of colours in the grey Spain of the ‘60s. And to show present day Torremolinos as a multicultural city where the LGBTIQ+ community is fully integrated.
In 2027, we will celebrate the centenary of the Generation of ’27, something that is very present in Torremolinos today thanks to Lorca and Dalí and because it is essential to defend the Europe of Human Rights and Equality as we always have and will in Torremolinos.”
For more information about the EuroPride bidding process, visit epoa.eu