moving millions in pride

History of EPOA

The European Pride Organisers Association was founded in 1991.
EuroPride was inaugurated in London in 1992, attended by estimated crowds of over 100,000.
The following year, Berlin hosted the festivities. Amsterdam hosted EuroPride in 1994.
In 1996, EuroPride moved to Copenhagen, where it enjoyed strong support from city leaders. The organizers were successful on all fronts and even managed to achieve a financial surplus.
Paris hosted EuroPride in 1997. The festival had numerous commercial sponsors and was widely hailed as a success. During the parade, over 300,000 people marched to the Bastille.

Stockholm was the host city in 1998. London was to host EuroPride again in 1999, but the event was cancelled when the organizers went bankrupt.
In 2000, EuroPride in Rome was elevated to WorldPride for that year. The event took place in Rome and was well attended by gays and lesbians from all over the world. After initially supporting the event, city leaders pulled back their support just days before due to pressure exerted by the Vatican, which was organizing the Roman Catholic 2000 Jubilee.
Vienna hosted the 2001 EuroPride, drawing large crowds from Central and Eastern Europe.
In 2002, Köln, Germany, held the then biggest ever EuroPride; officials estimated crowds to number well over one million.
EuroPride was hosted by Manchester, UK in 2003, and Hamburg in 2004. Oslo hosted it in 2005, with Sir Ian McKellen as the guest of honor.
London hosted the event in 2006, organizing a two-week festival culminating in a parade on the final day (01 July) in which marchers were invited to walk down Oxford Street. The parade was attended by the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, Human Rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, and the first transgender MEP, Italian Vladimir Luxuria.
In 2007, Madrid hosted EuroPride, which took place in Chueca, the capital's gay village, during the last week in June. Madrid was chosen because of the gay marriage and gender identity laws Spain had passed during the previous two years. More than 1.2 million people attended the final parade. For the first time, Madrid City Hall contributed financing to the MADO (Madrid Orgullo) organization. In addition, a private event, the Infinitamentegay Party, took place in Casa de CampoPark.
In 2008, the Stockholm Pride organization organized EuroPride 2008, held from 25 June to 3 August in Stockholm, a decade after hosting EuroPride 1998.
Zurich hosted EuroPride in 2009 with a month-long roster of events from 02 May to 07 June, culminating in a parade through downtown Zurich on 06 June. 
The 2010 event was held in Warsaw, Poland. Organizers prepared multifaceted events between July 9 to 18. The Parade took place on July 17. It marked the first time this pan-European LGBT celebration took place in a former communist country. The Warsaw EuroPride formulated, as its main theme, a demand for legalization of same sex civil partnerships. 

In 2011 the event was held in Rome. It was a great event culminating with one million participants in the parade, June 11th. The closing ceremony included a speech and a preformance of Lady GaGa.