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2009 GAY AND LESBIAN PRIDE

It's time for the gay pride party! Once again, thousands of people will flock to Madrid, to the Chueca neighbourhood on Wednesday July 1 to party in style until Saturday July 4 when the festivities will end with the traditional gay pride parade. As usual, the festivities will begin with an opening speech, although this year there will be two addresses: on Wednesday July 1, Boris Izaguirre and Spain's Eurovision representative, Soraya Arnelas, will read the opening speech in Plaza de Chueca, whilst actors Cayetana Guillén Cuervo and Daniel Guzmán will give another speech in Plaza Vázquez de Mella.

After the opening speeches, and until July 5, both squares will be packed with fun and entertainment. The stages will accommodate the best DJs of the moment, plus a whole range of performances featuring all styles from pop artists to electronic rhythms. Plaza Vázquez de Mella will also host the Final Gala of the 2009 Mister Gay Pride Spain Contest and this year, to triple the fun, yet another square will be staging shows: Plaza de Santa Maria Soledad Torres Acosta.

However, artists will not only be performing in these squares, but also on other stages around the city, offering a vast programme and range of activities: Calle Pelayo, Calle Libertad and Plaza del Rey. One of them, Plaza del Rey, will be the Cultural Stage, the main setting for the MADO Cultural Festival, MUESTRA-T, with the slogan Celebración 40 años de Orgullo en el Mundo (1969-2009) (40 Years Celebrating Gay Pride in the World [1969-2009]).

LESMADRID 09 will be held on Saturday July 4, after the parade. This lesbian festival will be staged in one of the most glamorous venues in Madrid, the Círculo de Bellas Artes. The event will take place in the dance hall and the column gallery with two different atmospheres that will accommodate performances by DJs as important as Moni-K and DJ Lara. There will also be visual performances and go-go dancers.

In parallel to the MADO'09 programme, the Las Ventas Bullring will be hosting the seventh edition of the MTV Day 2009 Festival on July 2, with a complete programme of live concerts starring Australian diva Kylie Minogue as the main guest of the night.

Popular race and mass parade

Madrid's Gay Pride gathers a range of events which are open to everyone and cater for a variety of tastes, from conferences and roundtables to exhibitions and cultural or sport activities. Two of the most notable events on the agenda are the group exhibition Social Pride Project, from June 16 to July 6, which will spread out around different venues in Chueca, and the theatre play The Dying Gaul, by Craig Lucas, which will be performed from June 25 to 28 at the Centro Cultural Casa de Vacas in El Retiro Park. Then there's the LGTB Visible Culture Festival, now in its 5^th edition -from June 16 to July 12 in Madrid- with 11 shows and 13 theatre plays, plus a roundtable on theatre.

For sport lovers, the programme includes the third edition of the Proud 10 Km., on June 28, open to both serious athletes and amateurs. The race, which departs from Plaza de España, will run around the centre of Madrid. This year's programme offers more events than ever before, so make sure you don't miss a thing by checking out the complete programme: MADO'09.

The star event is the Gay Pride Parade that actually names the festivities and was the origin of this whole week of celebrations and activities. In recent years, Gay Pride parades in Madrid have gathered over two million participants. The traditional, colourful demonstration-parade around the streets of the capital is the perfect ending to a week of festivities. This year it will take place on July 4 and it hopes to attract thousands of people, as in previous editions, creating a stunning human river that will glide, like a multicolour snake, along Madrid's main streets. As usual, the parade will kick off from Puerta de Alcalá and march down to Plaza de España, calling at Cibeles, Calle de Alcalá and the whole of Gran Vía. The parade will end in Plaza de España, which is the best place to cheer on each and every one of the floats as they arrive at their destination. Plaza de España will also host an event that will gather a varied selection of artists.

During these days, the Triball association, which comprises different establishments located in and around the central streets of Gran Vía, Corredera Baja de San Pablo and Fuencarral, will also be commemorating Gay Pride Day with different bars set up along the streets, fashion shows by designers from the area, open-air concerts and much more.

After a week of partying and litle sleep, the best plan is to wind down with a quiet activity like the picnic that is staged every year by the lake in El Retiro Park in front of the monument devoted to Alfonso XII. Take your friends and family and close this week of events in a chilled-out atmosphere, enjoying the company of your loved ones and meeting new people, as you give your stomach a breather.  In all, experience a week of festivities and celebrations in one of the warmest and friendliest cities in the world, and we guarantee you will want to come back for more next year.

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