Discover Benelux | Belgium | The Best Festivals & Events in 2016
The powerful and colourful message of freedom TEXT: ELLA PUT | PHOTOS: ANTWERP PRIDE
Once a year, the striking city of Antwerp lights up in all the colours of the rainbow during Antwerp Pride. At this festival, each and every community of the Belgian town is represented in a colourful feast with a powerful message. During Pride in Antwerp it is not only about the rainbow flag, a statement against homophobia. Similar to Pride celebrations around the world, it is a festival honouring not just the freedom of homosexuality but, in Antwerp, also honouring the freedom of everyone. The city, with its 118 different nationalities, will celebrate the freedom of all its citizens and everyone who wants to join them during Antwerp’s biggest cultural event of the year. The extraordinary Antwerp Pride was even chosen to be one 72 | Issue 25 | January 2016
of the top ten best Prides in the world by online magazine Jetsetter. “It’s all about celebrating positivity,” says Bart Abeel, president of Antwerp Pride. “Everyone is welcome to join us to celebrate how proud we are of our city and how happy we are with the freedom that we have,” says Abeel. It is a powerful message with a strong effect. “A Gay Pride sounds so exclusive,”Abeel says. “We want to be a festival for everyone, not only for the gay community. If we celebrate diversity, a diverse audience is needed.” That diversity was seen in last year’s Pride parade, one of the festival’s main activities. With bucket loads of glitter and glamour, the wagons passed by an incredibly diverse audience, bringing people from
all kinds of religions and backgrounds together. Mothers, fathers, children and the elderly were walking along as all age groups were represented in the colourful parade. This diversity makes the event truly one-of-a-kind. While it is the most popular part, the parade is not the only aspect of the event. For four days, festival visitors can enjoy many activities organised all over town, but also prior to and during the Pride is the Queer Arts Festival in Antwerp. This art festival questions sexual and gender identities through performing arts and inviting locals and international guest to academic, artistic and activist performances. Starting on a Thursday, there is a 24/7 party scene with all the bars and restaurants in Antwerp participating until Sunday. Entry to the opening feast, the