It’s summer so it’s time for Antwerp Pride and Antwerp Queer Arts Festival (AQAF). From 4 to 27 August 2023, AQAF hosts queer artists being queer, in the alternative, quirky, more rebellious sense of the word. Antwerp Pride, from 9 to 13 August, is more mainstream, openly catering to everyone and thus attracting a general, more mainstream LGBTQIA+ and allied public. This year’s pride theme is ‘Braveolution‘.

Keeping the tradition of the second weekend of August, Antwerp Pride 2024 will be held from Wednesday 7 to Sunday 11 August, 2024 being a leap year. 

Antwerp Pride 2024 was a big success, according to the organisers. 140,000 people attended the pride parade on Saturday, compared to 125,000 in 2022. Those 140,000 are obviously mostly spectators. The 2023 parade had 74 delegations, of which 40 were motorized floats. Lorries, basically. The sun was out, and it wasn’t too hot. Perfect pride weather. 

Overall, the Antwerp Pride week(end) will have pulled some 160,000 people to Antwerp.

Recently out(ed) party leader Conner Rousseau (Vooruit) was a popular sight. For the first time, military personnel marched in uniform at Antwerp Pride. 

The organisation says:

“The smaller, quieter event Pride Woman In Town on Sint-Andriesplaats – where there was room for spoken word and performances by and for women – was also a success with around 500 visitors. Performances were planned at the various LGBTQIA+ bars in the city until the wee hours. For example, it was very busy at the Theaterplein where Terrazza took place. In addition, it was also very busy in the Grote Pieter Potstraat, where the women’s bar Cut held a very well-received party at the end of their Cutfest 2.0. An estimated 10,000 more people came to the festival site on Sunday for the Closing Festival. With all other Antwerp Pride events, the organization estimates the total number of visitors at around 160,000″, the organisation says in a press release.

There were no significant incidents during Antwerp Pride. The organisation is therefore extremely satisfied with this successful edition, as stated by the new chairman Geert van Praet.

“It was my first Pride as chairman of this fantastic organisation and it was quite tough, but then you see the smiling faces during the Antwerp Pride parade, you hear the applause of the bystanders and you feel the warmth of the audience and then you can I can only be proud of what all our 500 volunteers have achieved. I think our message to move towards a loving society was more than heard. I would therefore like to thank everyone who contributed to this festive protest.”

Love United Festival

After the parade, the Love United Festival provided people with concerts and deejay sets. I couldn’t attend nor the parade, nor the festival. But from what I saw and read on social media, there was a huge crowd. 

As with each year, there were complaints for long queues to get a drink (Oriol said 45 minutes) or going to the loo (20 minutes). I heard this from other people too. 

I wasn’t there, so I can’t share my experience. It’s a recurring complaint. So maybe the organisers must do better, or there’s just nothing to be done. Maybe Antwerp Pride has become too big. 

Protests

Another tradition are the protests against pride from within the rainbow community.  Some protest the participation of political parties and police in uniform and / or the pinkwashing by corporations. LGBTQIAPLUS.BE says “criticism swells” and “many younger pride goers are shifting their focus from the traditional program and circuit-oriented after-parties toward truly inclusive events such Antwerp Queer Arts Festival and Send In The Clowns“. 

I don’t know if that’s true, I don’t know if that’s measurable. I don’t have numbers from the many after-parties which were organised during and after the parade and on Saturday night. 

It’s always hard to look outside the own bubble, however that bubble looks like. Gentrified or marginalized. Cis, non-binary or trans, male or not, POC or not… 

But I’m pretty adamant a huge majority of pride goers are just there to celebrate and are not thinking of the official theme, the impromptu theme (such as monkeypox last year) or the recurring protests. 

I do disagree with the message of inevitability. Evolution is not a fixed, straight line. The young queer crowds of today will be less young in five, ten and fifteen years’ time and have other takes on life’s issues. And the young queers of the future will have other takes, insights, demands on life’s issues. 

Target audience stretch

While I didn’t attend pride events on Saturday and Sunday, I did go to the Opening Concert at OLT Rivierenhof. This showed an interesting target audience stretch. You see, the line-up was pretty queer in the ‘alternative’, genderbending way. Quatch Collective and Gigi y El Macho Fantastico catered the genderbending side of affairs, Martha Da’Ro and Grace Khuabi provided colour. 

So you can argue Antwerp Pride made (and makes) an effort to cater to people who are not cis, white, middle class gay men. 

Arriving there at around 6.30 PM, 30 minutes before the concert started, the place was not only dominated by cis, white, middle class gay men – people like me – but the music meant to fire people up was typical pop music popular with cis, white, middle class gay men: pop charts hits and Eurovision songs. 

I found that ironic and I thought Antwerp Pride should have booked other artists, because it’s the cis, white, middle class gay men who are willing to spend the money on these things.

But after a while the crowd did het much more diverse. People of colour, queer people, a variety of ages. So I guess it did work. 

Variety and diversity

But it brings me to a few trends I noticed with this year’s pride. Firstly, never has Antwerp Pride been such a catalyst for so many events. Yes, there are the Big Events organised by Antwerp Pride themselves, but so many people organised events, parties, drag bingos, brunches and so much more. Some were more gentrified than others, but the list of events is huge. 

It’s also a response to reality. Not only is there a group of people wanting less mainstream events, there must be enough ‘event capacity’ to cater to larger a larger crowds.

Next to party-oriented events, the KMSKA fine arts museum and Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS) organised activities for pride with the Queer Tour and a rainbow display, and MAS Darling. 

So more and more stakeholders are jumping on the bandwagon, enlarging the the effect of pride on Antwerp. 

Fight for attention

It seems to me more than previous years events fought for attention. I have see many more sponsored posts and ads on social media from pride related events this year. Antwerp Queer Arts Festival, Vulgar and Woodpop, for instance. I didn’t see that (as much) the previous.

Maybe Antwerp Pride should do a better job at promoting these ‘fringe’ activities more, to underline the pride weekend does offer a diversity of activities. 

Personal challenges

In the run-up to the pride weekend, I saw two appeals on my Instagram feed of people looking for people to accompany them to pride. 

Going to pride is a challenge when you don’t have a lover and / or a posse, a go-to clique, a tenure group of friends. 

I’m someone like that. I’m a freelance friend. I don’t have this go-to clique with whom I “do everything”. This not an issue 350 of 365 days a year, but is annoying and confronting at New Year’s Eve, during Eurovision week and at pride. 

Because finding the ‘right people’ to to pride with is hard. You want people who don’t cling onto you, who give you freedom, but also who don’t drop you for every  acquaintance or potential flirt. 

So the appeal for pride goers finding pride goers in their circle of acquaintances felt very relatable. 

So?

Antwerp Pride 2023 is over. The organising committee will start praparing next year very soon. And I will hope having that weekend off next year. I work on average every other weekend. So I can plan myself a nice little pride weekend and find out in time who’s doing what. 

Antwerp Pride 2023 & Antwerp Queer Arts Festival 2023

• ANTWERP | Discovering queer(ed) art with the Queer Tour at the KMSKA fine arts museum.
• Antwerp Pride, a fight by celebration.
• ANTWERP PRIDE 2023 | Antwerp Pride activities and events especially for women.
• ANTWERP PRIDE 2023 | VULGAR joins Woodpop, A Hard Night, Oh Honey, SHE, H.I.M, Terrazza, Cutfest 2.0, The Boots and Belgian Puppy Social as Pride Saturday party.
• ANTWERP PRIDE 2023 | 20 years Het Roze Huis and Café Den Draak’s Midsummer Party on Thursday 6 August at Draakplaats.
• ANTWERP PRIDE 2023 | Introductory Queer Tour of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp (KMSKA).
• ANTWERP PRIDE 2023 | MAS Darling queer culture and film festival 9-10-11 August.
• ANTWERP PRIDE 2023 | Love United Festival, post-parade concert and party.
• ANTWERP PRIDE 2023 | Pride – WOMEN – In Town at Sint-Andriesplaats.
• Antwerp Pride Parade 2023 route & map.
• Antwerp Pride 2023 theme, programme and schedule highlights.
• BEYOND ANTWERP PRIDE | Discussing, educating, empowering and protesting for recognition of LGBTQIA+ people.
• ANTWERP PRIDE 2023 | WE Fashion and OUTtv provide safe change / fitting rooms for going to the pride parade.
• ANTWERP PRIDE 2023 | Holding hands for visibility on Sunday 13 August.
• ANTWERP PRIDE 2023 | Eurovision’s Gustaph to perform at Closing Festival on Sunday 13 August.
• ANTWERP PRIDE 2023 | Opening Night concert & party at OLT Rivierenhof.
• 4-27 AUGUST | Antwerp Queer Arts Festival 2023 programme and schedule.
• 2023 Antwerp Pride Parade route includes Kloosterstraat and a hello to czar Peter the Great.
• Antwerp Pride 2023 Festival at Cockerillkaai.
• ANTWERP PRIDE 9-13 AUGUST 2023 ‘BRAVEOLUTION’ | Make Antwerp a brave and safe.
• ANTWERP PRIDE 2023 | ‘Braveolution’ to Brave Space Antwerp.
• Antwerp Queer Arts Festival 2023 seeks contributors.
• ANTWERP PRIDE | Geert Van Praet succeeds retiring chairperson Bart Abeel.
• PHOTOS | Antwerp Pride 2023 from Wednesday 9 to Sunday 13 August.

Darklands 2023-2024

• Darklands 2024 from 27 February to 4 March.
• ANTWERP | Darklands 2024 going into ‘The Void’ under new, stricter city rules.
• “Darklands: The Hotel was an idea of A-Stay”.
• DARKLANDS 2023 | Programme and schedule.
• DARKLANDS 2023 | A-Stay to become official Darklands: The Hotel.
• Darklands 2023 from Tuesday 7 to Tuesday 14 March in Antwerp.
• Darklands 2023 to and from Deep Space.

Queer Antwerp

• Antwerp Pride, Jeffrey’s, Marie Antoinette, Armand Everaert win 2023 Touristico Gaylive Awards.
• ANTWERP | LGBTQIA+ bookshop Kartonnen Dozen stops.
• Rainbow zebra crossings of Antwerp.
• Rainbow zebra crossing in Borgerhout.
• Rainbow zebra crossing in Berchem.
• City chronicle ‘De kleur van de stad maakt mijn ziel amoureus’ recounts Queer Antwerp history.
• ‘Masculinities: Liberation through Photography’ exhibition at FOMU, Antwerp’s photography museum.
• Antwerp’s LGBTQI+ bookshop Kartonnen Dozen wins Çavaria Media Award.
• PHOTOS | Rainbows lit Antwerp.
• Flemish LGBTQI+ press support rainbow community in Ukraine.
• ALLEMAAL ANTWERPENAAR | Antwerp launches campaign to motivate citizens to stand up against discrimination and intimidation.
• Borgerhout flies intersex inclusive Rainbow Progress Pride Flag for IDAHOT.