Sunday, August 17, 2008

Pride Parade

It was a very busy day in Copenhagen yesterday. We set off for the arts market on Frue Plads and unexpectedly happened across Gay Pride’s parade. This went some way to explain the pub we passed that was covered in pink tinsel.

The parade apparently started in Norrebrø and worked its way down to Rådhuspladsen, which had been set up with a huge stage, Thai food bars and, of course, several booze bars gearing up for all night partying.

Well, let me tell you there was something for everyone. Handy and glamorous fashion tips for women courtesy of a smorgåsbord of tuled and crinolined drag queens, enough tanned and buffed male torsos to set off a stampede of last-chance 40-something men (like me) to Denmark’s health and fitness centres, a float of smurfs (gay ones, I guess) for the kids and, naturally, for any hate-crime and neo-nazi enthusiasts I suppose an overwhelming feeling of being a kid in a candy shop.

But, for me, smile of the day was the at least two-metre tall drag queen shuffling along in black boots with roughly 30cm platforms and not much else. It must have been a very, very long walk for her from Norrebrø and I dread to think of the state of her feet today!

There were lots of laughs and a very large crowd. Even the weather turned on a perfect sunny and warm late summer performance.


Rådhuset

A rainbow for the rainbow parade

Whatever you do, don't ask for her hairdresser's name

Drag queens

More of Paris Hilton's cousins

There's a bear in there

Some Smurfs 'come out' to play

These boots are (n't) made for walking

...and a wedding at Mary & Fred's church


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I went to Rådhuspladsen at around 8pm.

Tons of strange-looking people and heaps of broken bottles and squashed beer cans everywhere and some weird-looking Danish girls were having a picnic in the middle of that chaos while some Greenlandish-looking people were drinking their guts out next to them while throwing wine bottles to people.

Mad!

NotQuiteDanish said...

Writer, I had a feeling it might get a bit gruesome later, which is pretty much why we skedaddled out of there. NQDII once got hit on the head with a very heavy handbag by a Maori Drag Queen when on a university break holiday with friends, so we didn't want to push our luck! :)

MoMo 2.0 said...

the rainbow pic is the coolest!