Participants in the Pride Parade can now apply for financial support to create the float of their dreams after a Pride Parade Fund was established as part of an agreement between bank Landsbankinn and the board of Reykjavík Pride.
Participants in the Pride Parade can now apply for financial support to create the float of their dreams after a Pride Parade Fund was established as part of an agreement between bank Landsbankinn and the board of Reykjavík Pride.
Landsbankinn has sponsored Reykjavík Pride for many years and recently, the board of Reykjavík Pride and the bank renewed their cooperation agreement for two more years.
But in addition to its regular sponsorship of the festival, Landsbankinn has put 1.5 million ISK into a so-called Pride Parade Fund which the Reykjavík Pride board will oversee. Individuals and small groups can apply for grants to prepare and conduct their acts, which often can prove costly, in the Pride Parade which takes place during the Reykjavík Pride in August.
“Landsbankinn is a proud sponsor of Reykjavík Pride, this fun festival that’s grown to become one of the most popular outdoor festivals in Iceland,” says Lilja Björk Einarsdóttir, bank director, on the bank’s website. “At Reykjavík Pride we’re celebrating the milestones that have been reached in the fight for rights for queer people and keep fighting, with joy, against prejudice and inequality wherever it exists. It is therefore very enjoyable that an agreement of cooperation between Landsbankinn and Reykjavík Pride has been renewed.”
“This added support realises our dream of grants that would encourage an even more diverse celebration than before.”
Gunnlaugur Bragi Björnsson, treasurer of Reykjavík Pride says that the support from Landsbankinn through the years has meant a lot. “This added support realises our dream of grants that would encourage an even more diverse celebration than before. The Pride Parade is a grass root event where individuals and groups create acts with messages about human rights and diversity. Such acts cost both work and money but now for the first time, Reykjavík Pride can provide financial support to ensure good ideas can be materialised.”
Applications are now open on the Reykjavík Pride website www.hinsegindagar.is.
Main photo: Lilja Björk Einarsdóttir, bank director of Landsbankinn and Gunnlaugur Bragi Björnsson, treasurer of Reykjavík Pride, signing the agreement.