This year's edition of the Belgian Pride Festival, an event which celebrates LGBTI+ people in Belgium, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus.
"A very difficult decision, but the only right one," the organisation said in a press release. "Every year, we do everything we can to make The Belgian Pride Parade a success and build a more inclusive society," it said, adding that too many factors remain uncertain to organise an event for more than 100,000 visitors with a full programme.
Initially, the Festival was planned to start on Friday 8 May, with the Parade through Brussels on Saturday 23 May as the highlight. However, the organisation decided to postpone the Parade to 29 August, because of the coronavirus.
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"We, of course, respect all measures necessary to safeguard the health of our population. We have examined whether the Belgian Pride Parade could take place in a fully-fledged way at an even later date, but taking into account all uncertain factors, we have decided that this is not the case," they said.
Events within the framework of Pride will still happen this year, "but the big parade will not take place," the organisation emphasised, adding that it will pull out all the stops to make sure 2021 will be a strong edition "with a parade and a varied programme in which there will be room for militant messages as well as a big party."
Additionally, the organisation calls on everyone to take part in the digital Global Pride, which will be a 24-hour event, to which Belgium will also contribute.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
