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I’ve celebrated Pride in over 30 countries, and alongside Sydney and Sao Paulo’s celebrations, Amsterdam Pride is in my top three. This year, the Netherlands’ capital is hosting WorldPride, a global celebration of LGBTQ+ identities that takes place in a different host city every two years. With a commitment to rolling out the rainbow carpet to queer travellers from all over the world, Amsterdam will be hosting 15 days of events from 25 July to 8 August 2026, and is promising a bigger and better festival than has ever been seen before. I’m confident it will go down in the queer history books.
The biggest and most obvious draw is its Canal Parade – instead of a traditional Pride march, Amsterdam does something different and hosts the queer community on its canals. With dozens of boats decked out in rainbow colours sailing alongside the picturesque streets, you can expect eccentric costumes, showers of glitter, and all manner of performers vying for your attention.
To accommodate the anticipated boom of international tourists, this year, a WorldPride Stadium is being built which will provide an additional 10,000 seats right along the front of the canals.
Read more: 8 best LGBT+ hotels in Amsterdam for luxury, budget and boutique stays
Each boat in the parade carries a different theme that celebrates the intersections that make the queer community so colourful. There’s the Senior Pride boat hailing the oldest members of our community, plus boats such as Asian Pride and Gay Expats celebrating the city’s diversity. Other boats serve as a form of protest. Take the “Kissing Couple” – perhaps this year’s most anticipated float, set to feature a giant depiction of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin sharing a same-sex kiss. It wouldn’t be WorldPride without ruffling a few international feathers.
But while the Canal Parade is certainly spectacular, it’s not the main reason I love Amsterdam Pride so much. Rather, it’s the fact that it’s one of the only Prides I’ve attended where it truly feels like the celebrations stretch to every corner of the city.
Amsterdam’s celebrations span dozens of official stages and events that cover its central squares and plazas – but beyond this, the residents of the city take it upon themselves to turn every street into a party. You’ll find both the rainbow and trans Pride colours flying from every building, music blasting from open windows, people dancing on their porches and balconies, and a feeling of love in the air that is absolutely unmatched.
I’m always amazed by the lengths people go to make strangers feel welcome, and the unrivalled creativity on display. Last year, one man set up an ironing board outside his house, offering to iron Pride flags for free, while another group were cropping and bedazzling T-shirts in exchange for nothing more than wishes of a “happy Pride”.
I was attending the celebrations solo, and very quickly found myself invited onboard the party boat of a bunch of queer women I’d just met. They offered me a drink, and when I explained I was sober, one of them opened a bottle of non-alcohol fizz that they were keeping in the cooler “just in case”.
The beautiful thing is that Amsterdam isn’t just like this during Pride. It always feels effortlessly queer-friendly, with Pride flags flying year-round. It makes sense when you consider The Netherlands’ track record of LGBTQ+ rights. The country was the first in the world to legalise same-sex marriage (this year marks the 25th anniversary of the milestone) and the first to raise a monument dedicated to people facing LGBTQ+ persecution.
Read more: As an LGBTQ+ person, visiting the same places isn’t boring – it’s vital
The Homomonument was first built as a memorial to LGBTQ+ people killed in the holocaust, but now it stands as a powerful symbol for all those queer people still suffering persecution today.
The city is also home to one of the oldest queer spaces in the world. A living and breathing time capsule, the Café ‘t Mandje, first opened as an LGBTQ+ space in 1927 and still retains its original interiors today. Just a few minutes walk from there, in the Red Light District, Amsterdam also boasts the world’s oldest Sex Museum, which is filled with displays of homoerotic art and photography, showing that queer people really have always been here.
The city really does live and breathe queer history. For a full deep dive into the gays of yesteryear, I highly recommend LGBTour which offers itineraries in the city run by knowledgeable local queer guides. Exploring 400 years of LGBTQ+ history, you’ll discover how queer life started in the city’s underbelly before it emerged into the inclusive metropolis it is today.
Amsterdam remains a trailblazer for global LGBTQ+ equality. Reguliersdwarsstraat is known as one of the gayest streets in Europe, with dozens of queer bars and venues all offering a safe space for our community. At first, only the queer-owned venues flew rainbow flags, but now the pavements are painted with them, there’s murals on the external walls, and in 2020 every single business owner was given two Pride flags which they all now proudly display 365 days a year.
Amsterdam’s queer life isn’t just confined to this one street, however. It has everything from queer gym, We Are Queer, to Kinder Cuts, a barber shop offering gender-affirming cuts, and the Queer Market, exclusively selling goods from small LGBTQ+ businesses.
There’s also tons of LGBTQ+ owned restaurants throughout the city. My favourite is Pamela, a Black and queer-owned concept that offers up its space to different pop-up restaurants – whether that’s Balinese food from Anindya or Portuguese food from The Migrant Kitchen. There’s always plenty of entertainment too, with everything from fortune tellers and tarot readings to community fundraisers and drag shows.
All of this is just the tip of Amsterdam’s incredibly queer iceberg. That’s why I think it’s the perfect city for this year’s celebrations. WorldPride is supposed to offer something elevated – a queer celebration that feels extraordinary – and while every Amsterdam Pride already delivers that, I have every faith that the community can outdo themselves.
It’s not too late to book that last minute trip. I’ll see you on the canals.
Read more: Forget the Seine – jump into Amsterdam’s waterways for a perfect swimming holiday
How to get there
Eurostar recently opened its new UK terminal at the heart of Amsterdam Centraal, making reaching the city from London easier than ever. Direct trains from St Pancras run five times a day, starting at £39 each way with a luggage allowance of two suitcases plus hand-luggage included to give you as many Pride outfit changes as you need.
Where to stay
Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam is one of the most centrally located hotels in the city, and is also a pioneer when it comes to LGBTQ+ travel. When Booking.com launched its Travel Proud programme, offering free LGBTQ+ inclusivity training to hotels around the world, it was the first to take part. Setting a positive example of what a queer-friendly hotel should look like. This training has now been rolled out to 140,000+ hotels worldwide.