Experience

Liège Pride 2024 on 23, 24 and 25 August

Posted by Timothy on

The news fell off our radar, but Liège will host the first Liège Pride on the weekend of 23, 24 and 25 August 2024. It will include a pride parade, which is a first for Wallonia , according to French-language Belgian public broadcaster RTBF. But they forget the pride parade in Sankt Vith in the German-speaking Community, also known as East Belgium. 

Brussels in the Brussels-Capital Region and Antwerp in Flanders also have prides with parades. Other pride events in Belgium do not. LGBTQIA+ activist plan a parade at the first Limburg Pride in 2025. The province of Limburg is in Flanders. 

Liège Pride

“There is a real network of LGBTQIA+ life in Liège, whether associations, businesses, clubs, bars etc”, Thierry Delaval, spokespersn for the non-profit association Liège Pride explains to RTBF.

“There is a real breeding ground which makes Liège seem to be an obvious destination for this kind of event. 

The arrival of such an event in Wallonia also symbolizes the desire to defend the rights of LGTBQIA+ in smaller cities.

“The timing and the objective have changed. Before, we marched to demand rights, to put pressure on the political world. Today, our objective is to celebrate living together, to fight against sterotypes, to promote acceptance of others and this is the opportunity to do it at the local level”.

Logistical challenges

In June 2023, the City of Liège and the organising committee have signed an agreement in principle. Liège Pride wanted a parade in 2023, but road works prevented this. 

Liège Pride will therefore be held in August 2024 for 3 days with the program: entertainment, concerts, evenings and the parade as the highlight on Saturday afternoon.

On the programme (so far)

There is a website, LiegePride.be, but it’s empty. There is a Facebook page and a Facebook event page. 

Friday 23 August will feature an opening reception, a conference and a party. Saturday 24 August will feature a pride village or booth market (village associatif), a pride parade with floats and a closing show. All free and public.

Sunday 25 August rounds up the festivities with a brunch. 

Queer Belgium