Rotterdam Pride Festival returns in September

After a year's absence, Rotterdam Pride Festival returns this year with a new edition on Saturday 27 September 2025. Taking place on Willemsplein, the festival will mark the conclusion of Pride Week, which runs from 19 to 28 September. The programming content will be announced later.

The organisation of Rotterdam Pride Festival 2025 is in the hands of Bureau Vermaeck, in collaboration with various Rotterdam parties representing the interests of the LGBTQIA+ community. Together, they are joining forces to once again create space for visibility, encounter and celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community in the city.

The last edition of Rotterdam Pride Festival took place in June 2023 to mark its 10th anniversary. In 2024, the festival was cancelled due to financial problems of the then organisation. Bureau Vermaeck took the initiative in the summer of 2024 to bring Pride Festival back to the city. Because a city without Pride Festival is a city without a heart for all Rotterdammers. Rotterdam Pride Festival is not only a moment of celebration, but also of visibility, encounter and solidarity. It is an essential platform for emancipation and the celebration of diversity.

Eva van der Vegt, director of Bureau Vermaeck: "Rotterdam Pride Festival is back. Because it should be. Because it should be. Because a city like Rotterdam - with all its strength, diversity and guts - cannot do without a place where everyone can be themselves. We are proudly building a Pride that connects, strengthens and celebrates."

This year too, Rotterdam Pride Festival can count on the support of Rotterdam City Council, Rotterdam Festivals and loyal sponsors. The organisation expresses the hope that even more Rotterdam and national companies will endorse the importance of visibility, inclusion and connection and commit to the initiative to help make the festival possible. This may also be possible in a low-threshold way through the Diversity Business Club.

Faouzi Achbar, alderman (including Living Together) of the municipality of Rotterdam: "Rotterdam is a city for everyone. That means there must be room for all Rotterdammers to be able to be themselves. It is good that the Rotterdam Pride Festival returns, thanks to initiatives from within the city. The event suits the super-diverse and inclusive city we are as Rotterdam."