Outtake: Tel Aviv Pride 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

Tel Aviv could be considered the gay heart of the Middle East. But it’s not just because of the repressive culture and politics of its neighbors. Tel Aviv felt like one of the most welcoming and celebratory places I’ve been, especially as a destination for gay pride (check out my notes about other pride events HERE).

I covered all my notable non pride-specific things in a separate post, but the fact that Tel Aviv is warm year round (“We don’t do winters,” the marketing line remarks), makes it a pretty lovely vacation spot, especially for pride.

Take note: If you’re going to Tel Aviv Pride, be aware that the celebration here isn’t simply a Sunday parade and festival and maybe a block party. For 2023, the parade took place Thursday, the festival on Friday, and many other events (both city-sponsored/promoted and privately held ones) took place earlier in the week as well as on Saturday and Sunday. Plan your itinerary accordingly.

Pride Events

Pride is an event in Tel Aviv. Actually, it’s probably a hundred or more events. People from around the globe show up to party and celebrate here—and what we experienced was more celebratory and less commercial than other pride events I’ve attended, which was refreshingly fun. Despite (or perhaps in addition to) the Instagram photos I’d seen of throngs made up of stunningly attractive people, the crowds included a bit of everyone: all ages, all genders, all body types, as well as folks who spent months on their outfits and those who probably just put on whatever was clean.

The 2023 pride parade, as mentioned above, happened on Thursday afternoon. As I understand it, the parade had previously taken place mid-day Friday, but was moved to Thursday so it could be in the evening more people could attend (since Friday evening is the start of Shabbat). From what I read and photos I’ve seen, the parade is filled with people walking and dancing along the parade route—not corporate floats. I’m incredibly bummed to have missed it, but perhaps that’s a sign we’ll need to return for a do-over!

The pride festival was on Friday afternoon on one side of the hill of the Ganei Yehoshua part of Park HaYarkon. Wear comfortable shoes: the park is huge and this part of it is a ways away from parking, transit, and scooter-permitted areas. Forget what you’ve experienced at American or maybe even European pride events: there were almost no booths nor tables from corporate or local businesses. Just a stage with good live music, beer and cocktails, and some food. A celebration, for sure.

Pride in Tel Aviv (and gay nightlife in general, I’m told) includes a lot of organized parties and events. We only attended a few, but here’s my hot take:

• Forever Tel Aviv Opening Party held at Live Park was a great way to start out the weekend. The location was quite a ways from the central city, which I knew, but I was still surprised how far away it was. Anyhow, I hate lines and knew the venue was a hike, so I bought VIP tickets that included priority entry and a shuttle: not worth it. The shuttle didn’t stop anywhere near our hotel, so we got a taxi instead. And there was no line. The VIP area did have bottle service, which probably would have been cheaper and easier than the lines at the other bars, but what do you do with a bottle you don’t want to watch over? At least the VIP platform had a nice view over the crowd and of the stage, where the DJs were spinning a bunch of music I loved. DJ Tomer Maizner, who opened the show, shared his set HERE. I’d definitely go back.
• Offer Nissim, one of a few legendary Israeli DJs, has an event Saturday afternoon/evening at Park HaYarkon. Gates open at 4pm and while there’s (good) music playing before Offer starts his set, it probably wasn’t until 6pm before he started. This would have been the event to get VIP tickets for, as the VIP area had umbrellas and seating which would have been a welcome respite from the afternoon sun that was nearly unavoidable elsewhere here. That said, VIP tickets sold out in minutes, so that wasn’t really an option for us. The beating sun notwithstanding, the show was another joyous celebration, with everyone dancing and singing and hugging and cheering. I’d do it again, VIP or not.
• The Forever Tel Aviv Closing Party was later Saturday night. VIP tickets did prove helpful to skip the line here, but if I’m honest, I’d skip this party if/when I were to come back. Don’t get me wrong, it was good fun and had (once again) great music. But I think most of the crowd was tired by this point of the festivities and as such, it didn’t seem everyone was having as much fun as the events earlier in the weekend. Still, the music was great, the Tel Aviv Port location was convenient, and despite being a little tired, it was pretty fun.

Tel Aviv was a remarkable city I’d love to return to. And its pride was one of the most fun I’ve attended, both the city-sponsored events and the ticket-required parties and events. I can see why it’s a draw, not just for other folks in the region looking for an opportunity to escape the less-welcoming customs of their home countries, but also for people around the world looking for an opportunity to share the joy and celebration.