The Helsinki Pride event
| The Helsinki Pride event |
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Practitioners and people who know the tradition well
The Helsinki Pride event is Finland's largest human rights and cultural event. Helsinki Pride is intended for people of all ages who belong to sexual and/or gender minorities, as well as their allies. The core focus of the event is to progress and defend the rights of sexual and gender minorities, and it is based on participants' commitment to these goals. Helsinki Pride Week is significant for participants, is nationally and internationally recognized, and attracts attendees from all over Finland.
For several years, the Helsinki Pride Parade has gathered at Senate Square. The number of participants during Helsinki Pride Week has grown dramatically: in 2017, around 35,000 people participated in the parade, while the following year, nearly 100,000 took part. Today, the Helsinki Pride Parade attracts over 100,000 participants annually, and the Park Festival at Kaivopuisto draws about 50,000 people. In 2024, over 200 events were organized during Helsinki Pride Week.
The event is organized under the principle "by us for us," and it is managed by the Helsinki Pride Community association. The Helsinki Pride Community is a human rights and civic organization that carries out diverse social, youth, and community work, provides training and consulting services, and advocates to promote the rights, inclusion, and well-being of sexual and gender minorities. Alongside employees and numerous volunteers, a diverse group of supporters, members of the rainbow community and allies, organizations, and businesses make the event possible.
The Helsinki Pride event is part of the international Pride movement, with thousands of Pride events taking place globally each year. Globally, major city Pride events attract over 1.5 million participants, while smaller Pride events in towns have grown over the past decade. Elsewhere in Finland, dozens of Pride events are held annually.
Practising of the tradition
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Helsinki Pride Week has traditionally been celebrated in Helsinki during the last week of June, based on the timing of the historically significant Stonewall protests in the Pride movement. Highlights of the week include the Helsinki Pride Parade and Park Festival, which are traditionally held on the Saturday of Helsinki Pride Week. The Helsinki Pride Parade is a colorful, loud, and impactful demonstration in downtown Helsinki. The Park Festival has been organized since at least the early 2000s and is currently held at Kaivopuisto.
The Park Festival of Helsinki Pride attracts tens of thousands of visitors. Each year, the event has a different theme aimed at raising awareness about issues significant to sexual and gender minorities. In 2024, the theme was peace and hope; in 2023, joy and rebellion; in 2022, encounters; in 2021, Pride in Progress; in 2020, role models; and in 2019, movement.
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The purpose of the event is to strengthen the rights, inclusion, and well-being of the rainbow community. Therefore, the content of the event is dynamic, reflecting current events and social situations. Helsinki Pride has an annually changing patron who serves as a respected symbolic supporter and highlights the core values of the Pride movement: equality and equity. Patrons over the years have included the mayor of Helsinki, President Tarja Halonen, First Lady Dr. Jenni Haukio, Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Member of Parliament Jani Toivola, and Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb.
Since 2022, Helsinki has celebrated International Pride Month, meaning various programs and events are organized throughout June. The program is dynamic and traditionally includes various art and cultural events, parties, and discussion forums organized by different actors. The majority of the program is organized by the partners of the Helsinki Pride community and is free for visitors. Pride House is a central venue during Helsinki Pride Week, typically changing location each year. In recent years, Pride House has been hosted at places like Hobo Hotel Helsinki, the Kiasma Museum of Modern Art, the Helsinki City Hall, and the National Museum of Finland. Pride House serves as the heart and meeting place of Pride Week, welcoming all members of the rainbow community and allies. It brings together people, performances, workshops, and various other programs throughout the week.
Part of the Helsinki Pride event is also Youth Pride Week, celebrated during Helsinki Pride Week since 2012. Youth Pride Week is aimed at young people aged 13 to 25, with activities organized by various youth sector actors, such as organizations and youth centers in the metropolitan area. During the event week, young people can meet each other, form new friendships, enjoy their time in a safe environment, and participate in a diverse program. The event also introduces various youth sector actors to the young attendees.
Traditionally, Women's Parties are also organized during Helsinki Pride Week. Women's Parties have been established since at least the early 2000s, as Pride Week began to take on more festive and carnival-like tones. The unofficial history of Women's Parties likely extends back to earlier decades.
The background and history of the tradition
SETA ry, then known as Seksuaalinen tasavertaisuus – Sexuellt likaberättigande – SETA ry, was founded in 1974. The anniversary of its founding was celebrated in May, and in line with the gay liberation movement, the event began to be called Liberation Days. Initially, Liberation Days were protest meetings often held on the steps of the Parliament House or nearby. These protests demanded equal rights for sexual and gender minorities and opposed discrimination. The first major protest march took place in 1981. Liberation Days grew to span four days, with the highlights being the Saturday parade, a park gathering, and an evening celebration.
The Helsinki Pride Community, then known as the Helsinki Region SETA, was founded in 1990 and registered on February 1st, 1991. The responsibility for organizing Helsinki Liberation Days shifted from SETA, which took on the role of a coordinating body, to the Helsinki Pride community. In the 1990s, Liberation Days began to take on more festive characteristics, with colorful balloons, props, and banners appearing in the parade. At the turn of the millennium, the event's name was changed to Pride, following the international model and the first Helsinki Pride Week was celebrated in 2000. Since 2006, Helsinki Pride Week has been organized every year. The years 2020 and 2021 were the only years when the large Helsinki Pride Parade was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the parade was organized virtually and/or in hybrid form, and the Park Festival was replaced by a concert.
Pride House has been part of the Helsinki Pride event since 2016. Pride House is a globally recognized concept: regardless of location and time, it serves as a safe meeting place for LGBTQIA+ people. The original concept of Pride House originated from the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, where its purpose was to provide a safer space for athletes from the rainbow community to meet and spend time together, regardless of their home country's legislation. During Helsinki Pride Week, Pride House brings together people, performances, workshops, and various other programs throughout the week.
Today, Helsinki Pride is Finland's largest cultural and human rights event and one of Helsinki's largest summer events. However, the roots of Liberation Days are still strongly visible. In the Pride parade, protests remain a crucial part alongside joyful celebrations. The Helsinki Pride event has evolved and continues to evolve with the times, but it is always value-based. The growth of the event has required the professionalization of its production and organization. It is supported by a year-round, paid staff. The safety and cleaning costs brought about by the event's immense popularity have shaped it in various ways. Therefore, the funding base for the event has also needed to be developed.
The transmission of the tradition
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The Helsinki Pride event is an established and contemporary event that new generations of organizers and participants continue to embrace. The event is an integral part of Helsinki's summer activities and is prominently visible throughout Helsinki Pride Week. For example, the flag-raising during Pride Week has become an established part of many institutions' activities.
In the Helsinki Pride parade, the vehicles of partners feature impressive banners. The focus is on the community and the people participating in the event— they play a crucial role in creating the atmosphere and spirit of the event. Pride events strongly reflect the participants' identities. Nowadays, attendees often bring colorfulness and a carnival spirit to the event through their attire, rainbow flags, and balloons. The core of the Pride parade is the protest, and every participant can bring their own protest signs and banners. The Helsinki Pride event has hundreds of partners each year, and workplaces can also participate by bringing their own banners to the parade.
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Despite the growing number of visitors, the Park Festival of Helsinki Pride has remained free for attendees, offering various activities, performances, and opportunities to spend time together. The Park Festival features programs reflecting visitors' wishes and rainbow culture. The main stage of the Park Festival has provided high-quality programs, music, and performances for the rainbow community for many years.
Protesting is at the heart of the Helsinki Pride parade. The event has an established visitor base, with new people joining each year. Each Helsinki Pride sees first-time participants. The event emphasizes intergenerational continuity. Youth Pride Week includes young people in the overall event, and the children’s and youth areas at the Park Festival allow members of the rainbow community to grow into the event.
The organizing body, the Helsinki Pride Community, engages in year-round social, youth, and community work, addressing social injustices and grassroots signals in event planning. Working with various communities enables the organizers to assess which themes they want to highlight in the event. The event is developed annually to meet the wishes and needs of visitors. It has strong international networks and engages in active advocacy work throughout the year.
The future of the tradition
At the heart of the Helsinki Pride event is the respect for the legacy of the Pride movement, which has its roots in protest. Central to this are the Pride parade and demonstration. The Pride movement is the largest single movement in the world that calls people to the streets to express their views. Thanks to active advocacy work, the support from the community and allies for the event has grown and is strengthening.
The Helsinki Pride event has become an established event week with certain recurring elements, but the event is planned annually with current issues in mind. This means that the content of the event is developed each year and evolves to address contemporary issues affecting the rainbow community. Active feedback is collected from visitors, partners, and volunteers.
The future of the tradition is linked to the rights of rainbow people. The development of equality and anti-discrimination legislation, the increasing appreciation of social responsibility, and societal events and trends all influence what the Helsinki Pride event looks like and what its content includes. The people belonging to the rainbow community are the most central part of the event, so the future of the tradition reflects which themes, sources of joy, and injustices are important to the community.
The Helsinki Pride event generates significant media interest each year, thereby amplifying the voices of minorities in society by providing factual information about sexual and gender minorities. Through this information dissemination, the event increases understanding of rainbow people, shapes the attitude climate based on heteronormative and cisnormative assumptions, and facilitates social change.
Helsinki Pride is an active partnership network that focuses on deepening partnerships. Each year, new partners from various sectors join the event. This enables a multidisciplinary group to promote the rights of the rainbow community and influence inclusivity in the workplace.
Maintaining the tradition requires not only active advocacy work but also the encouragement and inclusion of a diverse community and particularly vulnerable groups, the minorities of minorities.
The community behind this submission
Helsinki Pride -yhteisö ry (Helsinki Pride Community Association)
Bibliography and links to external sources of information
Videos
Helsinki Pride 2023 Event Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4RZGwnyviU
Yle Areena: Helsinki Pride 2022 Live: https://areena.yle.fi/1-62696254
Encounters Video (Theme 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y9iOf9scQ4&t=115s
Video Greeting from the 2022 Guardian of Helsinki Pride, Jenni Haukio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj823ERSV2g&t=1s
Pride in Progress Video (Theme 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-BDpoanifc&t=4s
Helsinki Pride 2018 Event Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieUqYWgOCuM
Online Sources
Helsingin Sanomat: "The Colorful Splendor of Pride in Pictures: This is What the Joyful March Looked Like," June 29, 2024: https://www.hs.fi/helsinki/art-2000010524955.html
City of Helsinki: "The Mayor's Office as the Protector of Helsinki Pride – 'Promoting Human Rights is Our Common Concern'," May 31, 2024: https://www.hel.fi/fi/uutiset/helsingin-pormestarikunta-helsinki-pride-tapahtuman-suojelijaksi-ihmisoikeuksien-edistaminen-on
Helsingin Sanomat: "Pride Parade Marches in Helsinki After Two-Year Hiatus: 'I Love to Celebrate and Be Proud of Who I Am'," July 1, 2023: https://www.hs.fi/pkseutu/art-2000009691629.html
Yle Uutiset: "Pride – Proudly Celebrating Our Own Kind," July 1, 2010: https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2010/07/01/pride-ylpeasti-omanlaisensa-juhla
Friends of Rainbow History Association: Rainbow History Website: https://sateenkaarihistoria.fi/
Seta.fi: Rainbow History in Finland: https://seta.fi/ihmisoikeudet/sateenkaarihistoria-suomessa/
Ranneliike.net: Helsinki Pride 2024 Photo Gallery: https://ranneliike.net/artikkelit/16414/helsinki-pride-2024-kuvagalleria
Pride House International (2024): What is a Pride House? https://www.pridehouseinternational.org/about/