Kirchheimbolanden Pride 2026

Kirchheimbolanden, a small town in the Donnersbergkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, holds its first Christopher Street Day in the Schlossgarten, the town's palace garden. The gathering point sits right in front of the stage.

The event grew out of Jugend gegen Rechts Donnersberg, a youth alliance that has organized demonstrations against right-wing extremism in the region, including a rally on the town's central square. For this first Pride, the group brought together local branches of Buendnis 90/Die Gruenen, Die Linke, and the SPD, along with the Omas gegen Rechts network and the education union GEW, all running information stands around the garden.

On stage, the programme mixes live music with speeches from the participating groups. There is also a section built for families: a bouncy castle and extra seating for children and their parents. A winery from nearby Stetten, Boudier und Koeller, supplies the drinks.

For a town the size of Kirchheimbolanden, a first Pride in the palace garden is a modest but concrete step. It gives the region's queer residents and their allies a public gathering point that did not exist before, organized by the same youth network already known locally for standing up against the far right on the town's squares, and now, for the first time, at a Pride of its own.