Dublin — Pride — 2026
Do you remember your first Pride?
grand scale. The city comes alive with colour, noise and joy. Streets closed, crowds swelling, glitter catching the
If you are young, perhaps it was a celebration on a light, a sense of being part of something vast and visible, undeniable and unashamed. It breaks something inside you. There’s a moment where the feeling lands: you are not alone. That feeling stays with you.
Of course, it wasn’t always like this. Some of us remember a different Pride. Smaller. Quieter. Making our way through the city with a little more caution, a little less certainty. For many people, across Ireland and around the world, that reality hasn’t changed. Even so, there is always that same, unmistakable truth: we are not alone. This is why this year’s theme matters.
‘One Story – Many Voices’ is about the thread that connects us across time, across borders, across very different lived experiences. We share a story that shifts with the narrator, and while no single voice can represent us all, every voice counts.
Our community has never been just one thing. It is shaped by different identities and histories, by many ways of moving through the world: through race, gender, trans and non-binary experience, culture, faith, migration, through all the ways a life can be lived openly, or carefully, or somewhere in between.
Some stories are loud and luminous. Some are quieter, hard-won, still unfolding. Some are celebrated. Some are still fighting to be heard. All of them matter.
This theme is not about flattening those differences into a single narrative. It’s about holding them together and recognising that what connects us is not sameness, but solidarity. That we can stand alongside one another without needing our experiences to be identical.
We stand on stories that came before us, and alongside those still being written. Pride has always been about visibility, but visibility is not a single spotlight. It’s a constellation, brightened by every voice that joins it, strengthened by every story that’s told. However you show up, in full colour, in quiet courage, in celebration, in defiance, in reflection or in joy, you are part of it.
Your voice matters. Our story matters. Together, we create something none of us could hold alone. One story. Many voices.
At Dublin Pride, we wanted this year’s graphics to feel deeply human and recognisably real, so the work began as hand-drawn graphite pencil sketches. Each scene depicts ordinary Dubliners on their way to Pride, gathered at a bus stop: a familiar part of the city and a shared point of connection.
Pride has become more than a parade. Queer people are woven into the everyday fabric of Dublin. We move through her streets, we live in her neighbourhoods, we are in friendships and families. The drawings reflect that sense of moving through the city together.
The artwork is also intentionally almost monochrome, with colour appearing only in the rainbow accessories worn by each figure. For many queer people, the rainbow acts as a quiet signal of safety and recognition. Even in unfamiliar places, it can instantly communicate: you are welcome here, you are not alone.
The lead artwork shows an older woman with a small Pride flag peeking out from her shopping trolley, smiling at a younger person wrapped in a larger flag, who shyly returns her gaze. It speaks to the small moments of acknowledgement, solidarity and validation that happen across the city every day. Shared joy can be fleeting, but it is always deeply meaningful.
At a time when hostility and division are increasingly visible, we did not want these images to be defined by opposition. Instead, they celebrate kindness, visibility, and the quiet joy of recognising one another.
Philippa Ryder, this year’s Grand Marshal, is a storyteller who has shared her voice with our community and, through her activism over the past two decades, has made an outstanding contribution to our community and to many of the organisations that work tirelessly to advance and protect our rights. She has served as a board member of Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride and Transgender Equality
Network Ireland (TENI). She also served as Chair of Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride and was instrumental in the establishment of LGBTQ+ groups within the public service. Her memoir My Name is Philippa bravely shares the lived reality of a trans woman in Ireland.
Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride is taking over Temple Bar for Pride Week this year. From Wednesday, June 24, to Friday, June 26, Meeting House Square becomes Pride Square 1 from 11am to 7pm each day. It’ll be a bustling marketplace with LGBTQ+ artists and crafters selling their wares alongside information stands from community organisations.
Each evening, the festivities will continue just around the corner in The Button Factory. On Wednesday, we have our official Festival Opening Night, a riotous evening of burlesque and cabaret hosted by Phil T Gorgeous. On Thursday, we have Pride In Diversity, a wild night celebrating trans and non-binary artists in partnership with Ex Oh Promotions, the people behind T4T. Expect camp at John Waters levels! Dress code is pope of trash, kitsch, and trans anarchy. On Friday, our friends at Mother will be hosting a pre-parade party. For our sapphic sisters and siblings, we also have our legendary Dyke Night taking place in Opium on Wexford Street, in collaboration with Dublin Lesbian Line and Dublin Dyke March.
The Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride March and Parade takes place on Saturday, June 27, assembling on O’Connell Street and weaving its way through the city to Merrion Square from 12:30pm (in gay time). The city comes out to celebrate with us, and it’s always beautiful. Dress like nobody is watching, but remember to wear sunscreen and bring waterproofs. This is the height of Irish summer. Merrion Square becomes Pride Square 2, a free, unticketed, full-day festival event proudly supported by Dublin City Council, the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and our generous sponsors. A queueing system with bag searches is in operation to enter the park. Once the park reaches capacity, admission is on a one-in-one-out basis. Queues can be quite long during busy periods, but they tend to go in waves, so if you find the queue is long on arrival, go for a stroll or a snack, and it may subside.
Across town, the Mother Pride Block Party will be returning to the glorious surroundings of the National Museum at Collins Barracks. With three stages and multiple bars, this is the biggest annual Pride party on our island, so be sure to grab your tickets!
There will be over 100 events and celebrations across the city and county, so see dublinpride.ie/events-page for more information.
Whether you’re marching for the first time, returning after many years, showing up loudly, quietly, joyfully or cautiously, there is space for you here. Pride is made meaningful by the people who gather to create it. Every conversation, every outfit, every banner, every act of solidarity. One story, many voices, still unfolding together.
The Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride festival takes place from June 24 to 28. Stay up to date with all the latest news and events at dublinpride.ie.