This Is The Number One Pride Event In The World

Every year, more than a million people take to the streets of Spain’s small capital city to celebrate Pride. This year, the festivities will take place from 28 June to 8 July and, in typical Madrid style, promise to be one big, inclusive, colourful party.

Known locally as Mado – short for Madrid Orgullo (Pride) – this 10-day festival is among the biggest in the world. Mado offers an extensive cultural program celebrating the LGBTQ+ spectrum loudly and proudly. With music, dance, art and literature presentations, sports competitions, talks, children’s activities and more, there is something for everyone at this inclusive celebration, whether you like to party hard or not.

Alongside the official Mado happenings, the WE Pride Madrid festival will be going on from 4-8 July, hosting 21 DJs across seven massive indoor and outdoor parties leading up to Mado’s main event, the 7 July parade. For those looking for a techno-rave-meets-Spring-Break kind of experience, WE has got you covered. Their promotional video states: “prepare for the pride of your life.”
The bulk of Madrid’s Pride revelry will take place in Chueca, the city’s LGBTQ neighbourhood. The district is known for its unique combination of elderly residents, who have lived there since childhood, and the more recent addition of the LGBTQ community. The two groups interact in harmony, so it’s a symbolic setting as well as a practical one.

Ten days of parties, arts and culture is the perfect way to round off Pride month, and that is exactly what Madrid offers. This event is one of the biggest in the world and, as we all know, sometimes size matters.

About the author

India Irving

Social Media Editor

Born and raised in LA, India studied Drama at the University of Southern California before shifting her focus to the visual arts. After moving to London in 2013, she co-founded the iOS app ArtAttack which focused on connecting emerging artistic talent with galleries and collectors. Following that she worked at Albany Arts Communications, a boutique Art PR firm in Fitzrovia before joining Culture Trip. Aside from art and theatre, India's other passions include travel, food, books and dance.