How a bar on Reguliersdwarsstraat helped start Pride Amsterdam

Pride in Amsterdam did not begin with a march. It began with a group of regulars at a bar, and it still carries some of that spirit. According to IamExpat, the Dutch story differs from most. The COC, the Dutch gay rights organisation, initially declined to organise an official Gay Pride, arguing that gay people were normal people and had no need to demonstrate. It changed course in the late 1970s and held its first Gay Liberation and Solidarity Day in Amsterdam on 25 June 1977. Two years later the event was rebranded as Pink Saturday, which now moves to a different Dutch city each year and falls on the last Saturday of June. Pride Amsterdam, as it is known today, came later. Concerned that the city's status as a trailblazing gay capital was slipping, a group from Havana, a bar on the Reguliersdwarsstraat, proposed a new event. The first edition took place on the first weekend of August 1996. Its focus was celebrating freedom and diversity rather than political demonstration, and the Reguliersdwarsstraat remains at the centre of Pride week. The canal parade has been central since that first edition. Amsterdam is the only capital with a pride parade on water. It now lasts about four hours, runs from the Oosterdok to the Westerdok via the Nieuwe Herengracht, Amstel and Prinsengracht, and features around 80 boats. It draws more than 400,000 visitors, and has had an annual theme since 2006. In 2026, WorldPride is being held in Amsterdam, marking 30 years of Pride Amsterdam and 25 years since same-sex marriage became legal in the Netherlands. The city has promised extra security measures. That history is a reminder that Amsterdam's scene was built by venues and the people who filled them. It is the idea behind Vibra: a home for LGBTQ+ nightlife in Amsterdam, where tickets are easy to find and regulars are rewarded. Every night you go out can earn Pulse points, so loyalty to the community that makes the city's nights is recognised all year, not only in Pride week. Source: IamExpat, "The History of Pride Amsterdam", 27 July 2026