Braving relentless rain, nearly a half million people poured onto the streets of Stockholm to enjoy the festivities of this year’s EuroPride parade. Sweden is hosting the week-long event this year, which came off without a hitch, AFP reports.
Rainbow flags and frivolous decorations adorned the buildings and buses of Stockholm for over a week as Europe’s gay pride parade took over the capital of Sweden.
The lousy weather didn’t damper the spirits of the 45,000 flamboyant participants who turned out for the grand finale downtown parade. Not did it deter some 450,000 spectators from enjoying the scene, according to EuroPride spokeswoman Anna Soederstroem.
More than 150 groups representing all walks of life marched in the parade, which had not been held in Stockholm since 1977. Flamboyant cross-dressers in glittering thongs, Marie Antoinette look-alikes and other marvels walked side by side with groups from the Swedish Lutheran Church, the Stockholm police department and other civic organisations.
The downtown march marked the end of the nine day EuroPride festival, which is hosted by a different city in Europe each year. Leila Hammouda, a 39 year-old from Stockholm whose father is Algerian, said “I’ve never seen it before. I’m sure they would never permit this in Algeria.”
EuroPride chairman Jonah Nylund told reporters that a main objective for this year’s event was to call attention to Eastern Europe’s problem with prejudice. “There are constant attacks or bans on gay pride arrangements,” he said.
