Europride 2023: Malta expects 40,000 visitors for 'celebration of love and colour'

Malta expects 40,000 visitors for the Europride celebrations that will be held over a 10-day period in September, Rebecca Buttigieg said on Tuesday.

The Equality Parliamentary Secretary said Europride was a symbol of love, which is why the Malta event was launched on Valentine’s Day.

Europride is a pan European international event dedicated to LGBT pride that is hosted by a different European city each year. Malta will host Europride 2023 in Valletta between 7 and 17 September, making it the smallest country to ever host the event. The chosen theme for the Valletta celebrations is Equality From The Heart.

“Europride is an opportunity to see thousands of people travelling to Malta. This will not only be a week of celebrations, but also one of respect and awareness so that future generations do not have to fight for causes that should have been won long ago,” Buttigieg said at the launch ceremony in Valletta’s Republic Street.

Matt Blxck performed with his dancers at the event that launched Valletta Europride 2023

The brief ceremony also included musical interventions by Ian, Matt Blxck, Aidan and Glenn Vella. 

Buttigieg asked Maltese to fill the streets with love and colour for the September event.

Malta shot to the top of the Rainbow Index, a ranking of rights in European countries compiled by ILGA-Europe, over the past eight years as a result of wide-ranging legal reforms pushed by the Labour government.

Marriage equality was introduced in 2017. A gender identity law allows trans people to self-identify without the need to undergo gender-reassignment surgery or complicated legal procedures. Gay conversion therapy was outlawed and the law now protects the right for bodily autonomy of intersex persons from non-consensual medical interventions on infants and children.