Historic milestones celebrated as Dublin Pride Festival 2023 launches with Department support for Cultural Programme
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From: Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
- Published on: 1 June 2023
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media, Catherine Martin, has welcomed the launch today of the Dublin Pride Festival 2023, and in particular the Cultural Programme. Dublin Pride is one of the largest and most popular community and cultural festivals in Ireland. This year marks a series of milestones in the history of Pride and the LGBTQ+ community in Dublin and Ireland. These include the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ+ group in Dublin, the 40th anniversary of the famous march to Fairview Park, the first Dublin Pride Parade, and the 30th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland.
The Minister has approved an allocation funding of €54,000 towards the Cultural Programme of this year’s event. This will include Pride Hub on Duke Street, which will include a performance space and the 50.40.30 exhibition, charting the history of Pride and the LGBTQ+ community in Dublin and Ireland over the past fifty years. Pride Poets will host poetry evenings, and the post parade Pride Village event in Merrion Square will be a free day-long music festival style event.
Commenting on the launch, Minister Martin, said:
“June is Pride month, and this year we celebrate a number of important events in the history of Pride and LGBTQ+ rights in Ireland. This year’s Cultural Programme also provides opportunities for artists and performers to showcase their talents with performances that will engage, entertain, and inspire. I would encourage all to come along, enjoy the experience and to support the progress towards a more fair and inclusive society”
Jed Dowling, Festival Director, Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride, commented:
“In the 40 years since the first Dublin Pride Parade, sharing our culture with other people has always been key to our success. By inviting our friends and allies into our spaces and our stories, we’ve grown from just a couple of hundred people marching through the city, to become the biggest celebration of diversity and inclusion in the country. Pride can be different things to different people, but the one thing it is not, is limited, the more we share it, the richer it becomes. Having the support of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media will allow us to invite even more people to be part of the story.”