Copenhagen council announces $1million grant for first joint WorldPride and EuroGames in 2021
Event organisers have been give a financial boost ahead of the joint event.
By Will Stroude
Copenhagen City council has announced a $1 million grant to help cover the cost of planning for the first ever joint celebration of WorldPride and EuroGames in 2021.
The event, named Copenhagen 2021, will take place in the Danish capital and neighbouring Swedish city of Malmö in less than three years time, and planning for the first joint event of its kind is already underway.
“We welcome the support from the City of Copenhagen. This financial backing is instrumental in making Copenhagen 2021 a global and inclusive mega-event for the LGBTQ community”, says Lars Christian Østergreen, CEO of the body organising Copenhagen 2021.
“We have been hard at work to secure this grant, and it will be a tremendous help as we head into the early planning of a massive WorldPride festival, a EuroGames with sporting events in 27 disciplines, a conference focusing on LGBTQ rights around the world and a bunch of other events.”
(Image: Andreas Paulsson)
Copenhagen Pride won their bid to host WorldPride 2021 last year, and the Copenhagen LGBTQ sports organization Pan Idræt won their bid to host EuroGames 2021 earlier this year.
“There is no doubt that a combined celebration of WorldPride and EuroGames will empower our global LGBTQ community in our fight for equality”, says Østergreen.
(Image: Ewa Godd)
“We want this event to be truly inclusive of all the letters in our acronym, and we want Copenhagen 2021 to be a platform for activists and athletes from marginalized communities to have their voices heard.”
The newly-announced from the City of Copenhagen comes as a boost for organisers, who can now move on with planning in 2019. More funds are expected to be granted down the line by the City in its budgets for 2020 and 2021.
Østergreen continues: “Our local governments and its politicians once again show that they not only support our cause, they are indeed champions of LGBTQ equality.”
“With their continued support, we will deliver a spectacular event that puts inclusivity front and center, raises awareness on LGBTQ issues, and boosts Copenhagen as a truly progressive and open-minded destination for LGBTQ people.”
Copenhagen 2021: WorldPride & EuroGames is expected to attract 750,000 visitors during August 12-22, 2021. The event will take place in both Copenhagen and Malmö.
WorldPride is licensed to Copenhagen Pride by InterPride, and EuroGames is licensed to Pan Idræt by the EGLSF.