August 3, 2012
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(written on 14 March 2013)
Pride weekend has arrived and I had really been looking forward to it. That makes a different compared to some of the years in the past when I did my best not to be in Amsterdam this weekend. Fortunately for me the massive Fêtes de Genève take place in Geneva at exactly the same weekend so for more than a couple of years it was a favourite destination to escape Pride in Amsterdam. But that attitude changed over time and in the past years it was always very nice to be in town for Pride with last year probably being the pinnacle of that when I had a couchsurfer here, Drew from North Caroline, who joined me for festivities on Rembrandtplein and on Prinsengracht. So, obviously I was in the mood for Pride this year, even though Drew is back in North Carolina and I had no couchsurfers booked for this weekend.
So, after work, I headed to Westermarkt where, just next to the historic Westerkerk, the Drag Queen Olympics were going to get held once more after two years of absence. The Drag Queen Olympics are just good fun, with such silly ‘competitions’ as the Stiletto Race, the Handbag Throwing and the Hula-hoop Challenge. About 20 drag queens participated this year and the show was presented by famous Amsterdam drag queen Jennifer Hopelezz. It was busy as I got to Westermarkt, and there seemed to be a great atmosphere… but the thing is… I didn’t get into a party mood. On the contrary, I was still a bit shaken from this week’s Chick-fil-A discussions and I felt quite exhausted. Plus, the weather wasn’t exactly participating, with temperatures too low and very threatening rain clouds slowly moving in. So, after an hour and a half, I returned home (oh the joy of living in the city centre!) and stayed in for the rest of the first day of this party weekend. I hadn’t quite expected that of this Pride Friday but that was just the way to cookie crumbled today. And yes, the torrential rain did start not long after I got home. The drag queen in the picture goes by the name of Lady Galore who seems to be getting quite famous quite fast in Amsterdam so I’m sure we’ll hear more from her in the coming years.
