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Event Information:
The
Amsterdam Pride is an annual gay
festival in the centre of Amsterdam,
organized in the first weekend of
August. With several hundreds of
thousands visitors this event is one
of the largest public events of the
Netherlands. The pride is organized
since 1996. The peak of the festival
is during the canal parade, a parade
of boats of large variety on the
first Saturday of August, which
usually goes from Westerdok over the
Prinsengracht, Amstel river,
Zwanenburgwal and Oudeschans to
Oosterdok. The centre of the parties
and concerts during the festival is
the Rembrandtplein and during the
festival there are many activities
in the surrounding area.
Prinsengracht (Prince's Canal) is
the fourth and the longest of the
main canals in Amsterdam. It is
named after the Prince of Orange.
Most of the canal houses along it
were built during the Dutch Golden
Age of the United Provinces. The
bridges over this canal don't
connect with the streets in the
Jordaan. Interesting sights along
Prinsengracht include the
Noorderkerk (Northern Church), the
Noordermarkt (Northern Market), Anne
Frank House, the Westerkerk (Western
Church, Amsterdam's tallest church)
with the Homomonument (Gay
Monument), which actually faces
Keizersgracht. Zwanenburgwal is a
canal and street in the center of
Amsterdam. The painter Rembrandt and
philosopher Spinoza lived here. In
2006 it was voted one of the most
beautiful streets in Amsterdam by
readers of Het Parool, a local daily
newspaper.
Zwanenburgwal flows from Sint
Antoniessluis sluice gate (between
the streets Sint Antoniesbreestraat
and Jodenbreestraat) to the Amstel
river. The canal was originally
named Verversgracht ("dyers'
canal"), after the textile industry
that once dominated this part of
town. Dyed textiles were hung to dry
along the canal.
Pride
parades for the LGBT community (also
known as gay pride parades, pride
events and pride festivals) are
events celebrating lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
culture. The events also at times
serve as demonstrations for legal
rights such as same-sex marriage.
Most pride events occur annually and
many take place around June to
commemorate the Stonewall riots, a
pivotal moment in the modern LGBT
rights movement.
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