- Prague Pride 2013 PHOTO: PAVEL KUČA
PRAGUE – The 4th edition of the Prague Pride festival will take place from Monday, August 11 to Sunday, August 17, 2014, with the Parade and main concert and outdoor party on Saturday, August 16. The main theme will focus on Prague’s role as a bridge between Eastern and Western Europe.
The Czech Republic remains the most tolerant country of the former Eastern Bloc and this is reflected by its Pride event, which is the biggest and most open LGBT festival in the region. However, further east many gays and lesbians face persecution by their government and extremist groups in their societies. This is why Prague Pride decided to support them by giving them an opportunity to attend this year’s Prague Pride parade virtually.
LGBT people facing persecution everywhere will be able to connect to a secure website www.LGBTavatars.cz, which will be launched shortly. Here they can choose a person physically present in Prague who will represent them in the Parade. These “live avatars“ will join the Parade on their behalf and share messages, photos and short videos from the Prague Pride Parade through an easy mobile application. Those who do not choose a concrete avatar can still access the public contents on the website.
“People cannot organize festivals similar to Prague Pride to the East of our country. In Moscow, such parades have been banned until 2112 and attendees in neighbouring countries risk attacks from the police or extremists,“ said Czeslaw Walek, president of Prague Pride.
The main theme of Prague Pride 2014 is also reflected by the festival poster in the style of propaganda posters from the 1950s and will be visible at several events during the week, such as a debate on LGBT in diplomacy and the Pride Talks, where people from different kinds of societies from all over the world will talk about LGBT life in their respective countries.
Overall, Prague Pride will provide a weeklong, cutting edge program, with almost 100 different cultural and social events, parties, debates and much more. Many of these events are catered especially to tourists and will be held in English. There will be a week-long festival village on the banks of the river, where people can join in various activities, see exhibitions, watch movie screenings, enjoy concerts and get all the information about Prague and its gay community. It will be a place of to meet participants, guests and the organizers of the festival. Other highlights of the program include a concert by the famous British duo the Pet Shop Boys, the election of Mr. Bear Czech Republic and the annual LGBT Business Forum.
The main event of the week, the Prague Pride Parade, will take place on Saturday, August 16 and will start at the world-famous Wenceslas Square. This year more organizations than ever before will participate. The route of the parade will lead through the beautiful historical city centre to Letná Park, where a free concert with several DJ stages and an information fair will be held until late in the evening. TheSaturday will conclude with several parties all over town, showing the many facets of Prague’s gay scene.
The full program will be released at www.praguepride.com shortly.
