Vienna Gay Pride — Regenbogenparade

The Regenbogenparade is Vienna's Pride parade and Austria's biggest LGBTIQ+ event, held every June since 1996. It is famous for one quirk: it runs around the Ringstraße against the direction of traffic, so the floats pass the Opera, the Parliament, the Hofburg and City Hall going the "wrong" way round. The crowd is huge and remarkably mixed, from leather clubs and trans activists to political parties, unions and families who come out to watch.

The parade is the closing act of Vienna Pride, a programme of talks, parties and sport that runs for about two weeks before it. On parade day it starts at noon near the Rathaus and loops the Ring, with dozens of trucks and walking groups, and finishes with a closing rally. Watching is free from anywhere on the Ring; the stretch between the Opera and the Rathaus is the busiest. The Pride Village on Rathausplatz, with stalls from community groups, is free as well, while the after-parties in clubs across the city are ticketed. The gay bars in Mariahilf and around the Naschmarkt are full all weekend.