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About Malmö
Malmö Pride is the annual Pride festival of Sweden's third-largest city. It takes place in summer, runs for several days and combines a parade with concerts, stage performances, club nights and talks on HBTQIA topics, the Swedish abbreviation for LGBTQIA.
The festival goes back to the mid-1990s. It was started by RFSL Rådgivningen Skåne, a counselling service linked to the Swedish LGBTQ federation RFSL, under the name Regnbågsfestivalen, which means Rainbow Festival. For many years RFSL in Malmö handled the organisation. In the mid-2010s a separate non-profit association called Malmö Pride was founded, and the festival took on that name. Since then the association has run the event, relying largely on volunteers.
The parade sets off from Stortorget in the old town, heads down Södra Förstadsgatan past Triangeln and finishes in Folkets Park. The old people's park is also one of the festival venues, so concerts and celebrations carry on there after the march. Thousands turn out for the parade, some walking in it and others watching from the pavement. The organisers describe two aims: to draw attention to the situation of HBTQIA people in society, and to hold a public celebration where everyone is welcome.
In the early 2020s Malmö co-hosted WorldPride together with Copenhagen. It was the first time WorldPride and the EuroGames, a European LGBTQ sports event, were merged into a single event. The Öresund Bridge made it possible to link both cities in one programme.
Outside the festival days, RFSL Malmö remains an important point of contact for the community in the city.
Malmö Pride – frequently asked questions
Nearby Prides
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