June 2006: Lisbon Gay Pride - Arraial Pride

After the Parade we’ve got the Arraial Pride, a kind of Portuguese popular festivity, organized by ILGA Portugal with the support of the City Council of Lisbon.

The first editions of the Arraial Pride happened in central areas of the city, but the most recent ones have moved to Parque do Calhau (Park of the Pebble, translating – Could you believe this name?) in the periphery of Lisbon, typical idea (charged with prejudice) of the last Mayor of Lisbon, the fascist pig Pedro Santana Lopes.
Finally we were back to the centre, to Praça da Figueira, in the heart of Lisbon. The new place allowed a mixture of participants LGBT with the population of the city in general, which is not bad at all, but the useful area in the square was still quite limited.
As usual, the party had many more participants than the Parade, about 4000 people. It is easier for the common Portuguese (read Portuguese gays and lesbians) to attend a huge party, invisible, protected by the dark and camouflaged inside the crowd than to show himself in a day light Parade.