300,000 people attended the 27th Vienna Rainbow Parade

2023-06-17 19:13:00

The rainbow parade, the highlight of Vienna Pride, once again sent a loud but consistently peaceful signal for the rights of LGBTIQ people on Vienna’s Ringstrasse on Saturday. The annual colorful demo train for a serious concern, which took place for the 27th time this year, moved “the other way around”, i.e. against the direction of travel, as always. More than 300,000 people took part, organizer Katharina Kacerovsky-Strobl told APA.

This year the demonstration consisted of a total of 98 decorated trucks, other vehicles and groups of participants, making it the second largest rainbow parade in Vienna to date. According to the organizers, the already “biggest demonstration in Austria” was even bigger once – when it was organized as EuroPride in 2019. At that time, the demo train had 109 participating groups, according to Strobl. A record number of people attended, around 500,000. But even in “normal” years, the spectacle attracts many thousands of people with socio-political concerns. Last year, the 26th edition – the first in its entirety after the corona restrictions – was attended by more than 250,000 people, according to the organizing team.

Motto: “Together we rise”

It started with pleasant early summer temperatures and a blue sky – around 1 p.m. the parade started moving from the Burgtheater. A downpour in between didn’t spoil the mood. In the evening, the After Pride Celebration took place on the Rathausplatz with local artists and stage stars Conchita and Felix Jaehn. The motto of the demo was “Together we rise”.

Conchita previously took part in the parade as part of a larger pedestrian formation with the message “Spreading Happiness”. As a teenager, he always “made a pilgrimage” from the country to Vienna for the rainbow parade because of the community, and the event is still “an important point of contact for many,” said Austria’s Eurovision Song Contest winner alias Tom Neuwirth in an ORF interview. “We still have to justify being there, but we’re part of society.”

Politicians have also made a point

As a participant on site, Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) was happy about how many people gave a loud, colourful, diverse and happy sign for more acceptance, respect and equality, she posted on Twitter. The opening also included Justice Minister Alma Zadić (Greens), Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens), NEOS boss Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Greens club chairwoman Sigi Maurer, City Councilor Ulli Sima (SPÖ), Deputy Mayor Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS), SPÖ Federal party chairman Andreas Babler, SPÖ women’s spokeswoman Eva-Maria Holzleitner and the second president of the National Council, Doris Bures.

The police had armed themselves with around 700 emergency services. Since there have always been incidents in the past – especially in connection with smaller counter-demos or protests against them – support from Carinthia, Lower Austria, Salzburg and Styria was called in. In the late afternoon, these “marches” in the city center were officially over, so far there have been no relevant incidents, according to police spokesman Philipp Hasslinger.

police happy

The rainbow parade also went smoothly so far. “No incidents so far,” said Strobl in the early evening. At the request of the APA, the police reported only one arrest so far – apparently a Pride opponent had mobbed at the town hall square, he was arrested for dangerous threats and attempted bodily harm, no one was harmed.

However, Vice Mayor Wiederkehr reported on an incident in advance. “Enemies of cosmopolitanism have sprayed the city’s logo black,” which is in City Hall Park, he wrote on Twitter. “We acted quickly and made the rainbow shine again. We won’t be intimidated.”