Nepal Pride Festival — Kathmandu

Nepal's main Pride march is held on Gai Jatra, the Newar festival in late summer when families honor relatives who died that year. Blue Diamond Society, the country's oldest LGBTQ+ organization, has led it for over two decades, timing it to the festival's tradition of satire and public mourning. Some activists dislike the link to a festival of the dead, which is partly why Nepal also has a separate Pride rally in June.

In 2025 the march took place on Sunday, August 10, billed as the 22nd edition. It went from Narayan Chaur in Naxal to Basantapur Durbar Square and ended with a candlelight vigil for community members who had died. Organizers counted about 1,200 people, roughly 500 of them from outside the Kathmandu Valley. Mayako Pahichan Nepal ran a parallel march from Thamel. The theme was "Respect the spectrum, embrace the whole".

In 2026 there was no parade. After deadly floods, Blue Diamond Society held only a candlelight ceremony for flood victims and community members who had died, and gave NPR 100,000 to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. Nepal is among Asia's most legally progressive countries, and same-sex marriages have been registrable since a 2023 Supreme Court order. Gai Jatra follows the lunar calendar, so the date moves each year, and the 2027 plans hadn't been announced when we checked.