“Gay Pride Reykjavik is the city’s second largest festival, coming in behind the Culture Night. The National Holiday, June 17th comes third,” Ásdís Thórhallsdóttir, one of the organizers of Gay Pride 2009 told visir.is. The Festival will take place for the eleventh time in Reykjavik 6-9 August with a wide variety of events and a parade Saturday August 8th.
Reykjavik Gay Pride. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
According to Reykjavik Gay Pride’s general manager Heimir Már Pétursson, it appears as if more foreigners will be visiting the festival now than in recent years. “The number of inquiries on our website from all over the world has increased and people are coming from all over the world, for example Australia, Britain, USA and Scandinavia. Some of them have wanted to visit Iceland for a long time but others are coming especially because of the festival.”
He expects a great turnout. “Last year, 70-80,000 people attended Reykjavik Gay Pride, which was a record. We will be happy if we manage to keep the same amount of people this year.”
A shop has been opened in the cellar of Laugavegur 28, selling tickets and all kinds of merchandise related to Reykjavik Gay Pride. “A few Government Ministers will be selling so-called Hula wristbands during the parade, which is our main fundraiser” said Thórhallsdóttir. “Even if we are in the middle of a recession, there is never a recession when it comes to joy and happiness and we encourage as many people as possible to come downtown and be gay for a day.”
Read more about Reykjavik Gay Pride here.
