Sofia Pride 2024 is Looking for its Interpretation of Patriotism

The largest peaceful march for human rights in Bulgaria will take place on June 22, and this year's concert will be on Battenberg Square

The campaign of Sofia Pride 2024 "Bulgaria is also our home" seeks to read into the theme of patriotism and national belonging in the context of the LGBTQ+ community in Bulgaria and the people who support their rights. The largest march in defense of human rights in Bulgaria will take place on June 22, and the big concert this year will be on Battenberg Square.

This year, the focus of the event is the conversation about the topics and values ​​that unite us as Bulgarian citizens. One of these values ​​is love for the homeland, in addition to personal example and personal contribution. 8 successful professionals in their field stand with their faces and names on billboards in Sofia as part of the campaign. Their stories will be told digitally on Sofia Pride's Facebook and Instagram profiles in the coming days.

Among the personalities who are included in the campaign are doctor Miroslav Angelov - cardiologist, doctor Mila Bobadova - veterinarian, Dragomir Simeonov - lawyer, Clemon Bolo-Sukov - teacher of folk dances, Krasimira Hadjiivanova - co-founder of the "Mother Mila" platform, Nadezhda Rangelova-Boyadzhieva - animal breeder and child health activist, Simona Metodieva - social pedagogue and Alexander Milanov - medical worker.

In 2023, 11 brave Bulgarian families were part of the campaign "Our family invites you to Sofia Pride 2023". The campaign billboards, which featured the stories of some of the families, were vandalized by unknown persons just two days after they were put up. They were restored in a short period of time after any vandalism. One of the families who shared their story - Galya and Elena, who stood behind the lens together with their son and daughter, became the object of numerous checks and pressure. In May this year, the Sofia Pride 2023 campaign won a bronze award in the "Communications in the Public Sector" category at the BAPRA Bright Awards 2024.

The stage of Sofia Pride 2024 will welcome some of the most popular and popular artists in Bulgaria. The new location, Battenberg Square, will host the concert, which precedes the peaceful protest march and gathers on its stage some of the biggest music stars in Bulgaria. The doors of Sofia Pride will open at 2:00 p.m., and the concert will begin at 4:00 p.m. with a performance by young talents. Organizers will once again give young artists the opportunity to perform and sing in front of thousands.

Sofia Pride is organized by the GLAS Foundation, together with the Bilitis Foundation, LGBTQ+ Action and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee. The 2024 event is supported by the Bulgarian Women's Fund, the US Embassy in Bulgaria, the Embassy of Australia, the Embassy of Australia, the Embassy of Great Britain, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the companies Mastercard, Paysafe, Progress, Absolut, Accenture, IBM, Ingram Micro, EY, HP Enterprise, Sutherland, Kin+carta, WorkNomads LAB Hotel, Fashion Days, Sensata and Grand Hotel Millennium.