I've seen cities adorned with the rainbow flags, rainbow picnic tables (Vancouver), and rainbow cross walks, but what about an entire street?
The Reykjavík Pride celebrations began Tuesday when Dagur B. Eggertsson, the mayor of Reykjavík, joined organisers and painted Skólavörðustígur street in the colours of the rainbow.
The event was first held in 1999 and has expanded into a week-long celebration which attracts over 100 thousand participants annually and peaks on Saturday with the colourful Pride Parade.
According to Fréttablaðið newspaper, onlookers were invited to assist with the paintjob. “It was lovely. A large number of children lent us a hand and some even brought their own paint brushes,” said the event’s director Eva María Þórarinsdóttir Lange. – icelandmag.visir.is
The BBC adds "Reykjavik Pride is one of Iceland's biggest events, attracting more than 100,000 visitors during a week of festivities, equivalent to about a third of the country's population." Does 1/3 of our nation turn out to pride events? Of course being on an island in the middle of the North Atlantic, if you hear of a party, you're going to go! But honestly do any search with Iceland and Gay and you will see many articles as to how they are accepting and most recently in May, Huffington Post reported "Iceland Tops Gay Happiness Index"
The mayor describes the rainbow as "more powerful and beautiful" than he could have imagined. "This is one way to make our city livelier, more human and simply a better place by great collaboration and beautiful thinking," he says on his Facebook page. The rainbow will be kept until the end of the summer, according to the Morgunbladid website. – bbc.com
Who feels like hugging a mayor now? Reykjavík, Iceland here we come! Well, next year.
I love it!
I love it!