This article originally appeared on VICE NetherlandsOn the 23rd of July, 2017, about 20,000 people gathered in Nelson Mandela Park in Amsterdam for Pink Sunday. The event was part of the Kwaku Festival and, according to organisers, it was also "the largest black gay event in Europe". Since 2008, Pink Sunday has been considered by many in the gay community to be the unofficial start to Amsterdam Gay Pride, which takes place between the 29th of July and the 6th of August.
Advertisement
The Kwaku Summer Festival started out in 1975 in the Bijlmer neighbourhood in southeast Amsterdam as a football tournament for local kids – many of whom of Surinamese descent. Today, it's grown into an annual event that lasts for four consecutive weekends and aims to be a "grand celebration of cultural diversity and identity" rooted in Surinamese culture. And on Pink Sunday, that means plenty of food, music, fashion parades, vogue dance battles and, for some reason, a performance of a guy covered in salt.Scroll down to see more pictures from Kwaku Pink Sunday
