Portugal will apply for the EuroPride organization, “the biggest event” of celebrating gay pride in Europe, with an application that wants to lead by example and spread the diversity across the country instead of focusing on one city.
The initiative started with the Variations – LGBTI Trade and Tourism Association of Portugal which, with the support of the Portuguese government and the ILGA Portugal association, wants to bring the EuroPride organization to Portugal in 2022.
‘Variações’ managing director explained that on Friday the letter of intent will be handed out during a meeting of the European association responsible for EuroPride (EPOA), in Lisbon.
The next steps, said Diogo Vieira da Silva, are to submit the final document and budget until July and then in September in Bilbao, Spain, to be known the winning bid, with Portugal competing with Barcelona, Spain; Belgrade, Serbia; and Maspalomas, Spain.
According to the official, this is an event that can mobilize between 500 thousand to one million people, with an expected financial return of 15 times the amount invested.
Diogo Vieira da Silva added that the necessary budget is not yet closed, but will range between 500 thousand euros and 1.5 million euros, 75% of which will come from private sponsorships and the remaining 25% from public funds, right from an application to a line of financing Turismo de Portugal for large events.
He stressed that the EuroPride, which is organized every year in a different European city, “is Europe’s biggest pride event” and argued that Portugal has all the conditions to win this battle and organize the event in 2022.
In the words of Diogo Vieira da Silva, these conditions pass not only through the national context but also through the “privileged relations” with the various Portuguese-speaking countries, with very different realities regarding LGBTI rights.
“These relations can also be a reason to carry out the candidacy and demonstrate that the defence of human rights promotes more investment, equality and more quality of life for citizens,” he said.
On the other hand, he pointed out that this is an application that wants to lead by example, demonstrating how in the 30 years of EuroPride the Portuguese reality in LGBT rights has changed and the country now “is now the country that leads the promotion of equality “.
Another factor has to do with the fact that this application is not confined to a single city, but have thought of a script from north to south of the country.
“Lisbon will be the headquarters of the candidacy because it is where the LGBTI community is more organized, but we want this equality experience to transpire the borders of Lisbon and reach the rest of the country, from the coast to the interior, from north to south,” he explained. , adding he believes there is a “great chance” of the national bid to win.
He added that after the application is submitted on Friday, they will start probing local authorities to see which ones are interested in promoting activities and being part of a roadmap and that the opening session is scheduled to be in Porto and the conclusion celebration is in Lisbon, with the EuroPride march.
