Amsterdam’s gay pride will last for an entire month starting next year

Pride Amsterdam will last for an entire month beginning next year, and it will be jointly organized by various parties, according to the new Pride policy of the Amsterdam municipal government. Alderman Touria Meliani, who handles events, inclusivity, and anti-discrimination policy, said on Wednesday that the current Pride policy needed to be updated.

The current policy has been in use since 2011. Meliani pushed for a renewal because the city and the event developed over time.

The plan is for Pride, the yearly event for acceptance and visibility of the LGBTIQ+ community, to start in July and to last until the beginning of August. The beginning of July is suitable as a starting date as it connects to the international origin of Pride as a protest, according to the municipality.

The city referred to the four-day-long riots at the New York gay bar, Stonewall Inn. Those riots that started on June 28, 1969, are seen by many as a catalyst for the gay rights movement.

Pride Month will have space for small-scale and large-scale events and activities, said the Amsterdam executive body, comprised of the mayor and a coalition of aldermen. Large events like the canal boat parade and block parties are planned for the last weekend, which will last from Thursday to Sunday.

The city government said the organizer of those events will be determined by the Pride Month organization.

In recent years, Pride has lasted for nine days in the capital city. The length of the event was increased to two weeks last year, and was organized by several different parties for the first time under the name Queer & Pride.

Queer Amsterdam was responsible for the first week, with the Amsterdam Pride Foundation and the Andreas Cultural Fund Foundation organizing the second week.

Meliani said in November that the last Pride edition should be considered to be a “transitional year” in anticipation of the new policy presented on Wednesday. The city government wants to make Pride more inclusive and less commercial in this way, it was previously announced.