The great celebratory parade for EuroPride 2024 in Thessaloniki on Saturday culminated with a concert at the statue of Alexander the Great on the waterfront.
Thousands of people from the LGBTQ+ community from Greece and across the world celebrated, shouting slogans for acceptance, equality, visibility, and inclusion.
Among the participants and behind a banner that read “Diplomats for Pride” were George Tsunis, the Greek-American US ambassador to Greece, Alexis Patelis, economic advisor to the Greek Prime Minister, and Albert Bourla, the Thessaloniki native Pfizer pharmaceuticals CEO.
Two large floats made an impression parading in the center of Thessaloniki, starting from HANTH. It crossed Tsimiski and Venizelou streets and arrived at the White Tower, the Thessaloniki landmark, via Niki Avenue.
The US ambassador in his statements to AMNA said that, among other things, he is proud to be in Thessaloniki for the EuroPride parade, as this is an event regarding human dignity, acceptance, love, and equality, and we need to accept people for who they are.
Also present at the diplomats’ block was the ambassador of the Netherlands in Greece, Susanna Terstal, who declared that she was happy about the law passed in Greece on the marriage of same-sex couples, noting that it is the first Orthodox country to do so.
“Human rights are inherent to all”
Welcoming the thousands gathered for EuroPride, the mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis, emphasized, among other things, that “the city is colorful and friendly and supports human rights, which are not subject to negotiation and they are inherent to all.”
The EuroPride Thessaloniki 2024 celebration events were attended by several foreign diplomats, the former mayor of Thessaloniki, Yiannis Boutaris, the president of Plefsis Eleftherias party, Zoe Konstantopoulou, who in statements spoke of “a very big day for Thessaloniki and for the struggles that people fight for equality,” SYRIZA member of parliament Katerina Notopoulou, and others.
At the end of the parade and on the EuroPride Thessaloniki 2024 stage, a concert took place, and participants started off a wild party that lasted until late into the night.
Thessaloniki Pride won the right to host EuroPride at the Association’s Annual General Meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden in October 2017. EuroPride Thessaloniki was initially due to take place in 2020, but it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Members voted at the AGM in 2020 to allow Thessaloniki Pride to host EuroPride in 2024 instead.
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