Madrid Pride, or MADO, is a series of street celebrations that take place during the city´s LGTB (lesbian, gay, transsexual and bisexual) Pride Week. The Statewide Demonstration is the central event of this very eventful week and is Europe´s largest. Outdoor concerts -on six different stages-, parties, expositions, culture and sports (all of which are celebrated around the Chueca neighborhood in downtown Madrid) make up the whole of MADO.
We shouldn’t forget Madrid’s unbeatable year-round LGTB scene in general, a characteristic that has turned Madrid into a model for other big cities around the world.
There are about 500 businesses aimed towards the LGTB community (bars, cafés, restaurants, night clubs, book stores, travel agencies, gyms, hotels, boutiques, etc.) in Madrid, along with many other LGTB-friendly commerce.
In 2007 Madrid celebrated Europride (the Official European Pride Festival). That year, the president of the EPOA (European Pride Organizers Association) stated that Madrid had provided the “best Europride in history”. Ever since, MADO has acquired more and more international prestige and relevance. Along with this MADO has been prized two years in a row as the “Best Annual Gay Destination Event” in MTV´s Tripout Gay Travel Awards.
In its aim of becoming one of the world´s most important Pride festivals, MADO has taken on new challenges, such as presenting its candidacy for 2017´s Worldpride (the Official Worldwide Pride) headquarters, selected by Interpride (the International Association of Pride Organizers), an organization of which AEGAL –a MADO organizer- is a full member. The candidacy will begin in Interpride´s General Assembly this next October in Brussels.
The organizers of MADO are FELGTB (Spain´s Statewide Lesbian, Gay, Transsexual and Bisexual Federation), COGAM (Madrid´s LGTB Group), and AEGAL (Madrid´s Gay and Lesbian-aimed Business Owners Organization) are currently finishing the preparations for the upcoming Madrid Pride 2011. Just like every year, the city will summon hundreds of thousands of people in Chueca´s neighborhood festival and the Statewide Demonstration.
MADO´11 will take place between June 24th and July 3rd. The opening speech and inaugation of the Chueca festivities will take place on Wednesday, June 29th at nine o´clock at the Chueca Square and will be read by El Gran Wyoming (presenter of El Intermedio, a Spanish television program) and Esperanza Izaguirre, a Chueca resident since 1986.
The Statewide Demonstration –who´s official slogan is Salud e Igualdad por Derecho (The Right to Health and Equality– on Saturday, July 2nd will begin at the Puerta de Alcalá at 6 P.M., running along the Gran Vía and finishing at the Plaza de España. For ten years now Madrid Pride and the LGTB Pride Demonstration have both had a statewide nature, meaning that in Spain´s capital, all of the country´s LGTB Groups and Organizations unite to celebrate and protest together.
This year various spaces and stages in Chueca and along the Gran Vía will provide diverse activities from Wednesday July 29th to Sunday July 3rd. The stages will include one at the Plaza de Chueca, one on Calle Pelayo, one at the Plaza de España -where the end-of-the-demonstration acts will take place- another at the Plaza de Callao and finally one at the Plaza del Rey – known as the “cultural stage” and central point of MADO´S Cultural Festival “MUESTRAT-T”-. Other cultural activities include the FELGTB´s “La Culta” festival at the Plaza de Vázquez de Mella.
LGTB Pride is a multiethnic and multicultural celebration open to everybody (children, adolescents, the elderly, neighbors and visitors from all over the world), transforming Madrid into an open door of diversity. This is the spirit in which “Orgullo, ejemplo de convivencia” (“Pride, example of coexistence”) was created, an initiative that looks to spread awareness and involvement amongst groups, businesses, organisms and organizers about the importance of MADO and it´s aim to expand respect and peaceful coexistence.
In the last years the Madrid Pride celebrations have congregated more than two million participants. The traditional multicolor Statewide Demonstration running through the capital serves as the perfect climax to a week full of festivities. The celebration in Madrid has become, by its own right, the most popularized celebration in Spain. Madrid Pride has gone from being a small protest in the 80´s to the enormous event it is today, a moment in which we all come together to celebrate equality and diversity in a festive and fun way, without ever forgetting the LGTB community´s demands for rights.
Madrid Pride, or MADO, is a series of street celebrations that take place during the city´s LGTB (lesbian, gay, transsexual and bisexual) Pride Week. The Statewide Demonstration is the central event of this very eventful week and is Europe´s largest. Outdoor concerts -on six different stages-, parties, expositions, culture and sports (all of which are celebrated around the Chueca neighborhood in downtown Madrid) make up the whole of MADO.
We shouldn’t forget Madrid’s unbeatable year-round LGTB scene in general, a characteristic that has turned Madrid into a model for other big cities around the world.
There are about 500 businesses aimed towards the LGTB community (bars, cafés, restaurants, night clubs, book stores, travel agencies, gyms, hotels, boutiques, etc.) in Madrid, along with many other LGTB-friendly commerce.
In 2007 Madrid celebrated Europride (the Official European Pride Festival). That year, the president of the EPOA (European Pride Organizers Association) stated that Madrid had provided the “best Europride in history”. Ever since, MADO has acquired more and more international prestige and relevance. Along with this MADO has been prized two years in a row as the “Best Annual Gay Destination Event” in MTV´s Tripout Gay Travel Awards.
In its aim of becoming one of the world´s most important Pride festivals, MADO has taken on new challenges, such as presenting its candidacy for 2017´s Worldpride (the Official Worldwide Pride) headquarters, selected by Interpride (the International Association of Pride Organizers), an organization of which AEGAL –a MADO organizer- is a full member. The candidacy will begin in Interpride´s General Assembly this next October in Brussels.
The organizers of MADO are FELGTB (Spain´s Statewide Lesbian, Gay, Transsexual and Bisexual Federation), COGAM (Madrid´s LGTB Group), and AEGAL (Madrid´s Gay and Lesbian-aimed Business Owners Organization) are currently finishing the preparations for the upcoming Madrid Pride 2011. Just like every year, the city will summon hundreds of thousands of people in Chueca´s neighborhood festival and the Statewide Demonstration.
MADO´11 will take place between June 24th and July 3rd. The opening speech and inaugation of the Chueca festivities will take place on Wednesday, June 29th at nine o´clock at the Chueca Square and will be read by El Gran Wyoming (presenter of El Intermedio, a Spanish television program) and Esperanza Izaguirre, a Chueca resident since 1986.
The Statewide Demonstration –who´s official slogan is Salud e Igualdad por Derecho (The Right to Health and Equality– on Saturday, July 2nd will begin at the Puerta de Alcalá at 6 P.M., running along the Gran Vía and finishing at the Plaza de España. For ten years now Madrid Pride and the LGTB Pride Demonstration have both had a statewide nature, meaning that in Spain´s capital, all of the country´s LGTB Groups and Organizations unite to celebrate and protest together.
This year various spaces and stages in Chueca and along the Gran Vía will provide diverse activities from Wednesday July 29th to Sunday July 3rd. The stages will include one at the Plaza de Chueca, one on Calle Pelayo, one at the Plaza de España -where the end-of-the-demonstration acts will take place- another at the Plaza de Callao and finally one at the Plaza del Rey – known as the “cultural stage” and central point of MADO´S Cultural Festival “MUESTRAT-T”-. Other cultural activities include the FELGTB´s “La Culta” festival at the Plaza de Vázquez de Mella.
LGTB Pride is a multiethnic and multicultural celebration open to everybody (children, adolescents, the elderly, neighbors and visitors from all over the world), transforming Madrid into an open door of diversity. This is the spirit in which “Orgullo, ejemplo de convivencia” (“Pride, example of coexistence”) was created, an initiative that looks to spread awareness and involvement amongst groups, businesses, organisms and organizers about the importance of MADO and it´s aim to expand respect and peaceful coexistence.
In the last years the Madrid Pride celebrations have congregated more than two million participants. The traditional multicolor Statewide Demonstration running through the capital serves as the perfect climax to a week full of festivities. The celebration in Madrid has become, by its own right, the most popularized celebration in Spain. Madrid Pride has gone from being a small protest in the 80´s to the enormous event it is today, a moment in which we all come together to celebrate equality and diversity in a festive and fun way, without ever forgetting the LGTB community´s demands for rights.