Pride Amsterdam named an essential part of Dutch heritage

By Janene Pieters on June 28, 2019 - 10:20
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Amsterdam Gay Pride canal parade 2015 (Picture: Twitter/@Kwebbelkop)Amsterdam Gay Pride canal parade 2015 (Picture: Twitter/@Kwebbelkop)

Pride Amsterdam will be officially added to the Intangible Heritage Inventory of the Netherlands as an essential part of Dutch cultural heritage this year, the Knowledge Center for Intangible Heritage announced on Thursday. The addition ceremony will take place on the Museumplein in Amsterdam during the Pride Walk, the annual activist march from the gay monument to Vondelpark on the first day of Amsterdam Pride on July 27th, AD reports.

The Knowledge Center adds a heritage community to the Inventory if it finds that the community is actively committed to the future of its heritage. "I am proud that Pride Amsterdam is included in the inventory", Lucien Spee, director of the Amsterdam Gay Pride foundation, said to the newspaper. "With this addition we take steps in the history of Pride." Pride was first held in Amsterdam in the summer of 1996.

"Our efforts are now receiving official recognition. We are the first worldwide to take this step. Because we are on this list, we are sending out the signal that we want to pass on Pride to new generations and possibly resolve bottlenecks in the transfer to subsequent generations. Ultimately we also want to be on the International UNESCO list for intangible heritage", Spee said.

The Knowledge Center announced that Pride Amsterdam will be added to the Intangible Heritage Inventory one day before the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in the United States. The Stonewall riots are also the theme of Pride Amsterdam this year. On June 28th, 1969, the New York police raided the LGBTQ bar The Stonewall in the district of Greenwhich Village. The clash between police and bar visitors is one of the most significant points in the history of the LGBTQ movement. The first Pride Parade ever was held in New York the following year. Early this month, the New York police apologized for the raid for the first time.

Pride Amsterdam is taking place between July 27th and August 5th. The route of the Pride Walk is being specially adapted so that the marchers can attend the addition ceremony - the march will proceed under the Rijksmuseum towards the Concertgebouw. 

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