Bulgaria: Sofia Pride 2024 to be held at new venue

Sofia Pride 2024, the largest human rights event in Bulgaria, will be held at Prince Alexander I Battenberg Square on June 22.

This is a change from Sofia Pride’s traditional venue, the Soviet Army Monument in the centre of Bulgaria’s capital city. The monument was dismantled in December 2023.

A media statement on May 7 said that the new location will host the concert that precedes the protest march and gathers on its stage some of the biggest musical stars in Bulgaria.

Sofia Pride will once again give young artists the opportunity to perform and sing in front of thousands, the statement said.

“For the 17th year in a row, Sofia will host the only Pride in the country, and for the first time we will have the opportunity for the iconic Battenberg Square to be the gathering place and the concert,” Simeon Vassilev of the Sofia Pride organising committee said.

“We hope that the location of the new location, in the ‘triangle of power’, will make those in power listen more clearly to Pride’s demands, mainly for the legal regulation of the thousands of same-sex families in our country,” Vassilev said.

The “triangle of power” is a reference to the area of central Sofia that is the location of the Cabinet headquarters, the Party House that currently hosts the National Assembly, and the Presidency.

“We are currently in the process of recruiting volunteers for the event, so anyone interested can get involved by filling out the Sofia Pride form at this link,” Vassilev said.

In 2023, Sofia Pride gathered thousands of Bulgarians for a peaceful march in the centre of Sofia.

At the centre of the event were 11 Bulgarian families who showed their names, faces and stories behind the causes and goals of Sofia Pride.

For several months, the campaign “Our family invites you to Sofia Pride 2023” drew attention to the need for support in the family environment, which is extremely important for LGBTI+ Bulgarians.

The campaign received a bronze award in the Public Sector Communications category at the BAPRA Bright Awards 2024.

The focus of Sofia Pride 2024 will be the role of LGBTI+ people in Bulgaria for the development of Bulgarian society.

“This year’s campaign will showcase the values and people who unite us, not divide us,” the statement said.

Sofia Pride is organized by the GLAS Foundation, together with the Bilitis Foundation, LGBTI Action and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee.

The 2024 event is supported by the Bulgarian Women’s Fund, the United States embassy in Bulgaria, the embassy of Australia, the UK embassy, the embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the embassy of France and the companies Absolut, Accenture, EY, HP Enterprise, Mastercard, Progress, Paysafe and WorkNomads LAB Hotel.

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