Pride

Discover the world's best cities to visit for LGBTQ+ Pride

Pride: Top Destinations

The 50 Best Pride Festivals to Visit in 2019


Where are the best Pride festivals in the world? 2019 is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots - which set the Pride movement into action. To celebrate Pride this year, HomeToGo has produced a special guide to the 50 most exciting Pride festivals on the planet. From Brighton to Baltimore, from the colossal to the compact, the list includes a diverse range of Pride destinations worth visiting this summer!

After researching hundreds of cities around the globe, HomeToGo selected a final shortlist of 50 locations that offer travellers the following: a growing Pride festival, vibrant LGBTQ+ nightlife, LGBTQ+ friendly laws, excellent travel connections, and affordable accommodation. A full methodology can be found below the ranking. Get ready to celebrate Pride 2019 - and find out where the world's best Pride festivals are below!

Some Fabulous Facts About Pride Month

A red icon of three protestors, arm-in-arm

The first Pride parades took place in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago in 1970.

A yellow icon of an art deco building

Madrid is home to the largest Pride festival in Europe, attracting crowds of more than a million each July.


A green icon of the Brazilian flag

São Paulo boasts the world’s largest Pride festival. It attracts more than 3 million visitors each year.

A purple icon of the Empire State Building

This year’s World Pride will take place in New York City, to commemorate 50 years since the Stonewall riots.

The Top 50 Pride Festivals in the World

Rank
City
Country
Travel Score
Trending Score
Laws Score
Nightlife Score
Accom. Score
Total
1
São Paulo
Brazil
2.53
9.71
8.80
7.98
9.77
38.79
2
Mexico City
Mexico
3.19
9.74
8.40
5.96
9.74
37.03
3
Madrid
Spain
6.92
7.47
8.80
6.40
7.19
36.78
4
New York
USA
6.12
6.64
8.00
10.00
5.64
36.40
5
Paris
France
10.00
4.31
8.40
6.85
5.62
35.18
6
Bogotá
Colombia
2.23
9.73
9.40
2.81
9.75
33.92
7
Buenos Aires
Argentina
1.17
9.66
10.00
3.15
9.78
33.76
8
Milan
Italy
6.19
9.66
7.20
2.81
7.34
33.20
9
Sitges
Spain
6.48
9.60
8.00
3.15
5.67
32.90
10
Barcelona
Spain
6.48
5.62
8.60
6.18
5.74
32.62
11
Berlin
Germany
3.77
6.20
7.80
7.08
7.76
32.61
12
Los Angeles
USA
6.37
7.79
7.40
5.96
4.63
32.15
13
Lisbon
Portugal
4.25
8.10
9.40
2.36
7.93
32.04
14
San Francisco
USA
4.18
8.64
7.60
6.63
4.83
31.88
15
Prague
Czechia
4.80
8.63
8.00
2.47
7.76
31.66
16
Toronto
Canada
6.37
8.37
8.20
1.91
6.75
31.60
17
Benidorm
Spain
3.74
7.71
9.80
2.25
7.88
31.38
18
Baltimore
USA
2.34
9.79
7.60
3.82
7.35
30.90
19
Cologne
Germany
3.88
7.56
9.20
2.13
7.73
30.05
20
Montreal
Canada
4.40
7.62
7.80
3.37
7.12
30.31
21
Birmingham
UK
3.48
9.91
7.80
1.24
7.76
30.19
22
Manchester
UK
6.74
8.34
7.80
0.67
6.63
30.18
23
Valencia
Spain
2.23
7.68
9.80
2.58
7.88
30.17
24
Glasgow
UK
2.53
9.44
7.80
3.03
7.17
29.97
25
Seattle
USA
3.48
9.26
8.60
4.16
4.33
29.83
26
Stockholm
Sweden
4.76
9.11
7.40
1.24
7.12
29.63
27
Oslo
Norway
4.47
9.33
8.00
0.34
7.33
29.47
28
Bristol
UK
3.08
9.98
7.80
1.24
7.17
29.27
29
Copenhagen
Denmark
6.04
8.22
8.80
1.01
5.17
29.24
30
Porto Alegre
Brazil
0.00
9.74
8.20
1.91
9.31
29.16
31
Helsinki
Finland
4.54
9.85
7.80
0.00
6.86
29.05
32
Dublin
Ireland
6.04
8.26
7.60
1.01
5.67
28.58
33
Seoul
South Korea
4.87
9.68
2.80
1.69
9.09
28.13
34
Philadelphia
USA
4.25
10.00
6.60
1.69
4.61
27.15
35
Calgary
Canada
0.77
9.86
8.20
0.00
8.20
27.03
36
Albuquerque
USA
0.11
9.81
6.60
1.69
8.70
26.91
37
Atlanta
USA
8.10
8.35
1.40
3.15
5.70
26.70
38
Rotterdam
Netherlands
0.59
9.60
9.80
0.11
6.48
26.58
39
Taipei
Taiwan
3.96
9.54
2.60
2.13
8.10
26.33
40
Ottawa
Canada
0.73
9.38
8.60
0.11
7.48
26.30
41
Manila
Philippines
2.38
9.74
0.80
3.15
10.00
26.07
42
Vancouver
Canada
2.97
9.64
7.80
0.45
5.04
25.90
43
Belfast
UK
1.43
9.71
6.40
0.00
6.97
24.51
44
London
UK
6.85
2.58
7.20
2.47
5.12
24.22
45
Amsterdam
Netherlands
8.64
0.00
8.00
2.58
4.57
23.79
46
Orlando
USA
4.73
8.16
1.80
1.24
6.65
22.58
47
Brighton
UK
6.85
2.85
7.80
2.36
2.44
22.30
48
Ibiza
Spain
2.42
7.06
9.80
2.02
0.00
21.30
49
San Antonio
USA
0.62
8.84
2.80
2.02
5.90
20.18
50
St. Petersburg, FL
USA
1.10
9.37
0.00
0.34
9.14
19.95

Where Should You Travel for Pride This Year?

With so many unique Pride festivals around the world, where do you start? To learn more about the world's top 50 destinations for Pride, we spoke to two leading LGBTQ+ travel experts about their favourite Pride festivals and the importance of celebrating Pride.

A blonde woman wearing sunglasses and headphones in front of the ocean

"I’ve been lucky enough to be part of some of the biggest Pride celebrations in the world: London, Berlin, Brighton and I was even on a float in New York City last year. But one that stood out was Buenos Aires. Pride was first celebrated there in 1991 – and only 17 people showed up! Now it's a massive street party with 100,000 attendees. The proud LGBTQ+ participants and allies, Argentine lust for life and South American rhythms made this a Pride I’ll always remember.

"It's important to march for LGBTQ+ rights everywhere. There are still too many countries in which homosexuality is seen – and treated – as a crime, and LGBTQ+ visibility is important to normalise it. In many parts of the world, LGBTQ+ rights are still not anywhere near where they should be."

"São Paulo’s Pride parade is the best one out of the top 50 that I’ve had the opportunity to visit. However, there are some I’d like to visit as well, like Amsterdam, with all the colorful boats and people around the canals.

"Celebrating Pride is not about celebrating privileges, but about celebrating the right to be who you are. Being a proud LGBTQ+ person is about getting out into the open, and not being ashamed to demonstrate who you are. The more people we have outside of the closet, not afraid and being proud to come out, the more visibility we gain, and the bigger the chances to end the inequality we have now."

A smiling man in front of a fountain with a mansion in the background

"My favourite Pride festival definitely has to be Pride in London! I was utterly overwhelmed with the electric, positively charged atmosphere of fun, laughter and support within an LGBTQA+ community who have come from all corners of the UK and the world! After the parade, the streets of London are a mass of colours of the rainbow, proving that the capital of the UK is one of the most inclusive!

"It's important to celebrate Pride because it connects people across the world, making steadfast friends, within a safe and inclusive environment. You can just be yourself, out and proud!"

A rainbow flag painted onto the road

How We Created This Guide

We used information provided by the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA) to identify hundreds of Pride festivals around the world. We researched the following five categories for each of the locations: the ease of travelling to the destination, the Pride festival’s year-on-year growth rate, the city’s LGBTQ+ nightlife, the LGBTQ+ friendliness of local laws, and the affordability of local accommodation. The final shortlist of 50 comprises the cities that perform strongly in all five categories. Additional cities were eligible for inclusion but were excluded from the final shortlist as their Pride festivals took place before the release of this guide (May 25, 2019). 

After collecting the raw data, we assigned each data point a numerical value between 0 and 10, with 0 representing the lowest data point in the range and 10 representing the highest data point. This process was carried out for each of the 5 categories, making 50 the maximum possible score. We used the equation below in order to assign representative scores between 0 and 10 to the raw data: 

Score(i) = 10 ( ( (x(i) - x(min) ) / ( (x(max) - x(min) ) )

How Each Category Was Researched

Travel Connections Score: We examined the number of scheduled direct non-stop destinations from the nearest international airport to each Pride festival, using flightsfrom.com as a data source. *Cities lacking a dedicated airport (Benidorm, Brighton, and Sitges) were given the same score as the nearest city with an airport (Alicante, London, and Barcelona). For Torremolinos, we looked at the number of destinations from nearby Malaga airport. The city with the international airport offering the highest number of scheduled direct non-stop destinations was awarded a maximum score of 10, and the remaining cities were awarded scores based on the equation above.

Trending Score: We used HomeToGo’s own metasearch data to compare searches for accommodation for 2019's Pride festivals vs. searches for accommodation for 2018's Pride festivals. Using this data, we were able to understand the year-on-year growth rate of each Pride festival. The city with the largest year-on-year increase in searches was awarded the maximum trending score of 10, and the remaining cities were awarded scores based on the equation above.

LGBTQ+ Nightlife Score: We used online mapping tools to identify LGBTQ+ friendly bars and nightclubs in each of the cities. The city with the most LGBTQ+ friendly bars and clubs was awarded a maximum score of 10, and the remaining cities were awarded scores based on the equation above.

LGBTQ+ Friendliness Score: We used data provided by DestinationPride.org to evaluate the laws in each of the cities in our ranking. DestinationPride.org evaluates Marriage Equality, Sexual Activity Laws, Gender Identity Protections, Anti-Discrimination Laws, Civil Rights and Liberties, and Social Media Sentiment around the world. The city with the most progressive laws was awarded a maximum score of 10, and the remaining cities were awarded scores based on the equation above.

Accommodation Score: We used HomeToGo’s own metasearch data to find the cost of accommodation in each of the 50 cities on the Friday and Saturday night of the weekend of the respective Pride parade. The city with the cheapest accommodation prices was awarded a maximum score of 10, and the remaining cities were awarded a representative score based on the equation above.

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