AMSTERDAM, Aug 6 (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of revelers flocked to Amsterdam on Saturday for the return of the city’s Pride Canal Parade after two years of cancellations due to pandemic restrictions.

“I missed it, and I think everyone missed it,” Chas, 42, said as she watched the rainbow flotilla with celebrants dancing in feathers, sequins and leather pass by under a bridge.

The 25th edition of the parade capped off a week of Pride events in the city as the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities celebrated their identity and demonstrated for their rights.

“Originally it was gay pride, but today you see hundreds of thousands of people, whether they’re gay, straight or whatever, and it’s so fantastic,” said reveler Jonas van der Kaaij Olsen, 53, draped in a rainbow flag. .

This year’s theme was “My Gender, My Pride” seeking to draw attention to gender identity, as organizers said transgender empowerment lags behind other groups.

The Pride festival said its focus is gradually shifting from celebrating people’s right to love whoever they want to their right to be who they are.

In a poll by broadcaster EenVandaag, 73% of respondents who identified as LBGT supported holding the Pride event, while nearly half think it should be less commercial and more issue-driven of rights.

A spokesperson for the city’s health authorities said they were not issuing any special advisories to festival-goers about monkeypox, a virus that causes painful blisters and is mainly spread among men who have sex with men.

However, information is offered about the disease, which is transmitted primarily through skin-to-skin contact, in several contextual locations around the city.

Fewer than a thousand cases have been recorded in the Netherlands where vaccinations among vulnerable groups began last month.

Reporting by Esther Verkaik; Written by Toby Sterling; Editing by Mike Harrison

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