Tel Aviv Pride Celebrates its 25th Anniversary

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Tel Aviv Pride Parade, and it's slated to be the largest and most festive LGBTQ+ celebration to date in Tel Aviv and throughout the Middle East. This year, Tel Aviv will expand the hugely popular celebration from featuring the Pride parade and Pride Party in a single-day to a two-day spectacular that will take place on Thursday and Friday, June 8 and 9. In honor of the 25th anniversary of the parade, leading local artists, dancers, DJs and many other beloved favorites will perform on the biggest stage ever built in the park.

This year, to expand upon the celebration, the parade takes place on June 8th along the beach promenade allowing revelers to enjoy the vibrancy of downtown Tel Aviv coupled with the stunning backdrop of the Mediterranean sunset. And the Pride party, an outdoor event with more than 300,000 party goers expected, will be on June 9th at 12 noon at Ganei Yoshua Park in the northern part of the city and continue until the early evening when the Jewish sabbath begins Friday evening at sunset.

Facts about the LGBTQ+ community in Israel...

· The first “Pride” event in Israel was actually a protest that took place in 1979 at Rabin Square

· The first Tel Aviv Pride Parade marched on the scene in 1998

· Israel is considered a haven for LGBTQ+ in the Middle East

· Tel Aviv has a reputation for being one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world

· In 2019, Amir Ohana, Israel’s first openly gay cabinet minister, attended the march with his life partner

· The legal code that once outlawed homosexuality in Israel was changed on March 22, 1988, effectively decriminalizing a person’s sexual orientation.

· Israel’s oldest LGBTQ organization was founded in 1975

· Smaller Pride celebrations and parades are also held in Jerusalem, Haifa and Be’er Sheva

Photo Credit: Guy Yehieli