2021 was a year filled with love, glitter, glamour and of course, fighting for our rights!
2021 Malmö Pride hosted WorldPride together with Happy Copenhagen. The WorldPride was held in both Malmö and Copenhagen between the 12–22 of August. We invited you all to take part in a spectacular program that contained two Pride parades, parties, music performances, a Youth park, art and culture and of course a gigantic WorldPride House and lots more!
The tagline was #YouAreIncluded which was the lead motivation for the creation of both the program and festival areas where accessibility and intersectionality stood in the forefront .
WorldPride House
Malmö Live Concert Hall took on the role of WorldPride House, containing both physical and digital environments. Several presentations where streamed in real-time and available online afterwards.
The WorldPride House was free for visitors and the content ranged from questions regarding politics, lust and sexuality, health, culture, work, family, violence and a lot more. To create an interactive platform, lectures where mixed with workshops, courses or “do it yourself” along with social spaces to simply just hang out.
Furthermore, the location hosted an international summit for LGBTQIA+ refugees, borders and immigration throughout Friday the 20th of August. The summit was part of the Human Rights programme for Copenhagen 2021.
WorldPride Park
WorldPride Park was a playful and inspiring place where you could take part in art exhibitions and imaginative performances, enjoy the summer heat at one of the park’s outdoor cafes, picnic with loved ones on the lawns and much more! Activities, talks and workshops where also arranged for young people inside the Amiralentheatre, throughout the festival. In WorldPride Park there was something for everyone
Date: 12-22 August 2021
WEDDINGS
How about tying the knot with your love on a sunny meadow in Slottsträdgården, by the hunting pavilion in Torup, in one of Katrinetorp’s beautiful garden rooms or at “Kärlekskullen” in Folkets Park? It was a memory for lifetime in a beautiful location for those who took the step .
Date: 12-15, 19-22 August 2021
YOUTH PRIDE
Youth Pride was the place for LGBTQIA + young people to meet during Copenhagen 2021. Here the visitor could take part in a program adapted to young people with workshops, seminars, talks and activities. The area was closed off and there where safe and discrete entrances. Youth Pride aimed at young people aged 13-19.
Date: 12-22 August 2021
“THE BOXES: LOVE COMES IN DIFFERENT SHAPES”
“The Boxes: Love comes in different shapes” was an exhibition on the park square in Folkets Park. It consisted of 18 boxes created by artists from Sweden and Denmark who had made their own interpretation of unconditional love and the freedom to be themselves.
Date: June-August 2021
WorldPride Opening Parade
After many twists and turns throughout an ongoing pandemic, Malmö Pride decided on a way to arrange a physical parade in an as safe and secure way for all participants and audience as possible. The opening parade took place at 5:00 p.m. on the twelfth of August at Malmö Stadium. One could participate in the parade where there where close to 600 people, or in the stands which could accommodate up to 3000 people. Even though there where far fewer people than usual in a Pride parade in Malmö, Malmö Pride was extremely happy to be able to carry out this manifestation and this celebration in such a large physical format.
“The parade is an incredibly big and important part of Pride, where we both celebrate the community’s great success over the years, and manifest the need for further work for equality and inclusion that lies ahead of us. We have exhausted all possibilities and finally arranged a way to go through with the parade in a safe manner.” says Anna Tenfält, Managing Director for WorldPride 2021 in Malmö.
The parade was also the official opening ceremony for the event in Malmö there true festivity with many surprises awaitened. Since there where a very limited number of spots in the parade itself, Malmö Pride organizations encouraged people to fill the stands and thereby be an equal part of the parade. Participation was free-of-charge, both in the stands and in the parade.
Political Riots
Each day we had a Political Riot at Biograf Panora, where speakers delivered opinions, visions, burning desires and feelings through poetry or direct speeches. Amongst the themes we found Love, safety, sex, anger and spirituality. Each theme was highlighted from various viewpoints to raise further awareness on the life situation of LGBTQIA+-people.
Youth Pride
Pride is of greatest importance for our youth and therefore we worked to ensure safety and festival content relevant for our younger participants at WorldPride 2021. Youth Pride was arranged within its own area where adults where only permitted entry by consent of the youth. There where safe and discrete entrances to this location so that those who had not yet come out as LGBTQIA+ could participate freely.
Pride for children and families
Learning to safeguard the equal value of human beings cannot begin too early! Through games, workshops, films, talks and much more, Copenhagen 2021 created an eye opening permissive environment where the child’s well being and best interests where always in focus. There was gathering spots for rainbow families, partially for exchanges of experiences but also to create unity and a sense of belonging. Informative and educational activities and events was also arranged here.
EuroGames
EuroGames 2021 was a LGBTQIA+inclusive sports event covering 29 different sporting activities. The event took place between the 18-20th August in Copenhagen and Malmö. It was a LGBTQIA+inclusive sports event with 29 different sports.
This year’s EuroGames was the biggest to date with six thousand participating athletes. Tournaments was open for the audience and visitors could join in themselves with the drop-in-programme “Sports to the People”. Here they could participate in Drag Olympics, rollerblades, biking workshops and rainbow family games.
Read more at Copenhagen 2021‘s website!