The big Pride Show is online

By Thomas R. Kristensen

This year we are not allowed to gather thousands of people in front of Pride Stage in City Hall Square. As a result, we can – for the first time ever – look forward to experiencing the big Pride Show online, in bars or on TV 2.

Saturday, August 22nd is an important day for anyone who loves Copenhagen Pride.

However, this year’s Pride Saturday will not be quite the same as previous years. Due to corona, we have had to think up new ways to celebrate rainbow-diversity.

This, of course, also affects the big Pride Show, which usually attracts thousands of people for speeches, music, show and partying in City Hall Square.

An alternative format

Together with its creative team, Copenhagen Pride has worked intensely to develop an alternative format for the big Pride Show.

“The show will last for about two hours, starting at 20:00,” Simon Witzansky reveals, co-arranger of the big Pride Show since 2015.

“The hosts will be Megan Moore, May Simón and friends – that is Jumbo Jette, Chantal Al Arab, Athena Lady, and Nicholas Nybro,” says Simon Witzansky.

Among this year’s artists, Copenhagen Pride has, at the time of writing, entered into contracts with Rosa Lux, Gnucchi, Freja Kirk, Emile, Jeuru, Betty Bitchslap, and Ivy Rosenauer. Additionally, you can look forward to this year’s Pride speakers.

You can find an updated program on copenhagenpride.dk

Extended Reality

During Pride Week, Copenhagen Pride will be physically present at City Hall Square with four tents for talks, debates, and other activities.

The Pride Show itself will, however, not be aired from City Hall Square. Even if the government has eased the restrictions on large gatherings by then, it will still not be possible for thousands of people to gather physically.

“We’re building a studio in Pakhus11 where hosts and artists are all present. At one side of the studio, the hosts will be in a set design conceptually mirroring Copenhagen. At the other side, the artists will perform using brand-new technology, Extended Reality, which will be used in Denmark for the very first time,” Simon Witzansky reveals.

“With Extended Reality, we are creating a virtual universe our artists can enter into, which is substantially better than for example Green Screen-technology.”

“We’re airing it live, and there is a great amount of technology that needs to cooperate. It’s enough to keep you up at night, but that’s the conditions we’ll have to accept when we’re entering an area we haven’t entered before,” Simon Witzansky says with a laugh.

He explains that the experiences with Denmark’s first digital Pride Show might be drawn into 2021 when Copenhagen will be hosting World Pride and Eurogames.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to gather again physically for a big Pride Show in 2021, but a digital Pride Show could be a way of including those who might be able to participate in Copenhagen.”

Watch it anywhere

The big Pride Show will be available to watch in all corners of the world at copenhagenpride.dk.

“We’ve been trying to preserve the pride-feeling. Now that we can’t gather everyone in City Hall square, we ask that people celebrate Pride in smaller groups.”

For instance, you could invite your friends for a Pride party at home and watch the show together. You could also go for a walk around town. Most LGBTI+ bars in Copenhagen are airing the Pride Show on their screens.

“The bars have been enormously positive about the prospect of transmitting the Pride Show. I will definitely recommend going out to see this year’s Pride Show so that you support some of the places that have been struggling during the corona lockdown. The bars need our support,” says Simon Witzansky.

This year’s Pride Show will also air on television screens in Danes’ homes around the country. This year, TV 2 transmits parts of the Pride Show.