The annual Pride Week kicks off today, hosting a vast number of events, workshops, parties to celebrate the LGBT community and its heritage. The event's pinnacle is the family-friendly Gay Pride Parade, called Gleðigangan in Icelandic, taking place on Saturday (6 August).
For the past 18 years, pop singer Páll Óskar has taken part in the parade. His float is usually the last and the flashiest.
“This year, I‘ll be a unicorn! And I‘m actually mixing it a bit with the Pegasus so it‘s going to be a huge, silver unicorn with wings!” he told website Gay Iceland. The massive float will be able to rear and drop its head and kick its hind legs.
The unicorn might be a gay cliché, but Páll Óskar explains it also has a deeper meaning: “The whole Pride festival is about being visible. I just want to emphasize that by being as visible as I possibly can because for such a long time we were invisible in Icelandic society. I feel as if it’s simply saying: “You know what, if you’re a unicorn then be a unicorn. We have to stay visible and be strong, especially during these times when we could be targeted, where fascism and racism are being allowed to fester. That’s why it’s so important to do this every year; we have to be careful because as soon as you’ve acquired freedom it can so easily be taken away from you again.”
The Icelandic Pride Parade is a massive and family friendly affair beginning at BSÍ bus station in central Reykjavík at 2 pm. The parade marches along Fríkirkjuvegur and ends at Arnarhóll hill.
The annual Pride Week kicks off today, hosting a vast number of events, workshops, parties to celebrate the LGBT community and its heritage. The event's pinnacle is the family-friendly Gay Pride Parade, called Gleðigangan in Icelandic, taking place on Saturday (6 August).
For the past 18 years, pop singer Páll Óskar has taken part in the parade. His float is usually the last and the flashiest.
“This year, I‘ll be a unicorn! And I‘m actually mixing it a bit with the Pegasus so it‘s going to be a huge, silver unicorn with wings!” he told website Gay Iceland. The massive float will be able to rear and drop its head and kick its hind legs.
The unicorn might be a gay cliché, but Páll Óskar explains it also has a deeper meaning: “The whole Pride festival is about being visible. I just want to emphasize that by being as visible as I possibly can because for such a long time we were invisible in Icelandic society. I feel as if it’s simply saying: “You know what, if you’re a unicorn then be a unicorn. We have to stay visible and be strong, especially during these times when we could be targeted, where fascism and racism are being allowed to fester. That’s why it’s so important to do this every year; we have to be careful because as soon as you’ve acquired freedom it can so easily be taken away from you again.”
The Icelandic Pride Parade is a massive and family friendly affair beginning at BSÍ bus station in central Reykjavík at 2 pm. The parade marches along Fríkirkjuvegur and ends at Arnarhóll hill.
