Budapest Pride

Budapest Pride, or Budapest Pride Film and Cultural Festival, is Hungary's largest annual LGBT event. Of the week-long festival, the march is the most visible event. The march has historically been known under several names, including Budapest Gay Dignity Procession, and has taken place each year since 1997, usually on the first Saturday of July, proceeding along Budapest's most expansive thoroughfare, Andrássy Avenue, between the City Park (Városliget) and Elizabeth Square. Though much smaller in scale than similar gay pride parades in Western Europe and the Americas, around one to two thousand marchers typically participate in the Budapest procession. Radical right-wing demonstrators and hooligans have severely disrupted the Budapest Pride marches held in 2007 and 2008, casting uncertainty over the future of the event. However, Budapest Pride has been held successfully in the intervening years, with minimal incidents.