Thessaloniki to host Europride 2020

Europride 2020 will be held in Thessaloniki in 2020. Unfortunately, the bid submitted by Belgian Pride and its partners was not selected by the European Pride Organizers Association’s (EPOA) General Assembly on Saturday, 23 September in Göteborg, Sweden. It’s a great disappointment for the LGBTI+ friendly capital of some 500 million Europeans.

But Brussels will not give up and will be once again submitting a bid to host the 2022 event.

Despite the work and collaborations in the last few months of Belgian Pride, the BrusselsCapital Region and other players from the LGBTI+ community, Brussels’ bid was not retained.

Since its inception almost 50 years ago in New York, Pride has spread all over the world, bringing the LGBTI+ communities out into the streets to celebrate diversity. More than just a festive event, it’s a chance for the initiatives of activists, intellectuals, and citizens to assert the community’s interests and provide new ideas for public policy.

Brussels benefits from an open-minded spirit supported by anti-discrimination laws. It is among Europe’s most LGBTI+ friendly cities. It’s a good place for anyone to live, regardless of sexual orientation.

For just over 20 years it has also hosted Belgian Pride, which is held each year in May around the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Europride is the international version of it. It is held in a different city each year. Madrid hosted it in 2017. It will be Stockholm/Göteborg in 2018, Vienna in 2019, Thessaloniki in 2020 and who knows, Brussels in 2022? Brussels’ turn!

Belgian Pride would like to thank its various partners such as LGBTI+ associations from the three regions, Syndigay (the hotel and catering industry’s gay association), visit.brussels, the cultural sector, other equal rights movements, businesses, athletic clubs, etc. It was also thanks to the Brussels-Capital Region, the French-speaking and Flemish communities, the City of Brussels, and many others that this adventure was possible. But all is not lost, it’s time to get back to work and prepare the bid to host Europride 2022.

The three other candidates were Bergen (Norway), and Hamburg. Each submitted a bid package listing their ideas for the 2020 edition of EuroPride.

We would like to offer our congratulations to Thessaloniki for their successful bid, and we wish them all the best with the organisation of this wonderful event.