OUR MISSION

Pride is a celebration. Pride is about coming together. Pride is love. And Pride is—perhaps today more than ever—also about resistance.

We believe that freedom can never be taken for granted. All over the world, hard-won rights are under pressure, and even closer to home, polarization and violence are on the rise. That is why Antwerp Pride has made a conscious choice to be visible—for the freedom to love whom you love, to shape your own life, and to be who you are, without any fine print and without exceptions.

That’s why we do three things. We celebrate—loudly and colorfully—because sharing joy is an act of resistance. We bring people together, both within and outside the community, because change begins with connection. And we remain vigilant, because rights only remain rights if we protect them together.

OUR TEAM

Antwerp Pride is run by a board of directors, a core team, and more than 350 volunteers. Our chairperson is Geert Van Praet. From the editorial team to the parade team, from the village crew to the reception volunteers, together we make a difference every year.

19 EDITIONS OF FEARLESS

The first Pride parades emerged in the years following Stonewall in 1969, when patrons of the Stonewall Inn in New York rose up against police violence. That spark ignited a global movement.

Antwerp Pride has been helping to build that tradition for more than fifteen years. In 2026, we’ll be celebrating our 19th edition: 19 times the joy, love, and freedom to be yourself, in a city with a strong tradition of openness. From a handful of delegations to a parade with more than eighty delegations. From a few hundred visitors to more than 200,000 people who come together to fill the Scheldt quays with color.