ShanghaiPRIDE announces its line-up for 2017 and it's awesome

ShanghaiPRIDE, Mainland China’s biggest and longest running pride festival is returning for its ninth edition this year from June 15-18, promising a packed line-up of events cultural, social, sports and educational events to promote awareness for the queer community in China.

The official theme of this year’s celebration will be ‘The Time Is Now…’ which according to event organisers, seeks to promote the championing of acceptance and the beating back of intolerance while asking ‘what will you do to shape our tomorrow?’

This year’s pride festival will be condensed to four-day roster of events and parties in the run up to the tenth anniversary of ShanghaiPRIDE next year, when organisations from around China will join forces for CnPRIDE – the first ever nationwide celebration of queerness.

The official festival itself may be shorter than usual, but fear not, affiliate events will be taking place before and after PRIDE weekend, lasting from mid-May to mid-June. Check out the full line-up of events below.

April 22

PRIDE’s Got Talent The annual celebration of queer talent will be taking place this April 22, promising wide-ranging performances from song and dance, to comedy and spoken word. 

Rainbow Bike Ride Queer cyclists will unite again this year in celebration of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Dressed in the vibrant colors of the rainbow flag as they ride from six starting points across the city before converging in one of the city’s central parks to enjoy a well-deserved pink picnic.

June 10

PRIDE Talk Ten speakers will be invited to discuss a wide range of topics concerning the LGBT community, ranging from academic studies on gender and sexuality to personal queer narratives.

June 11

ShanghaiPRIDE Film Festival  This year’s ShPFF will include a packed schedule of movie screenings, forums, and more, featuring a two-day film marathon on June 11 and 18. Film-makers are invited to submit work for the ShPFF Short Film Competition, which showcases LGBTQ Chinese stories and gives entrants the opportunity to win a spot at the prestigious UK Iris Prize Festival and compete for Iris’ £30,000 top award. Interested? Films must be submitted before April 15 so get cracking. Download the submission form at shpride.com/films. 

June 15

Ladies Party The annual party for queer women will kick-off pride weekend with drinks deals, performances, prize draws and more.

June 16

PRIDE Rocks A new addition to the ShanghaiPRIDE event schedule. Local bands will be invited to celebrate Pride for a day of good vibes, great music and community-building and awareness.

Pride Art The formerly entitled ShanghaiPRIDE Art and Photo Exhibition returns this year, showcasing photography submissions from the community and allies that relates to the annual Pride theme. Interested? Submit your photography at shpride.com/2017art-submit for a chance to win a special cash.

June 17

PRIDE Run A classic event on the annual ShanghaiPRIDE schedule, amateur athletes will run across the city from six different points across the city, ending in central Shanghai for a celebratory Pink Brunch.

LGBTQ Groups Open Day & Forum A showcase of queer organisations from all over China with a full schedule of forums relating to community activism, business, awareness and more.

Pink Party ShanghaiPRIDE’s official party with guest performances, prize draws and tonnes of glitter.

Get involved

ShanghaiPRIDE is currently accepting submissions by queer artists, illustrators or designers for the annual PRIDE T-shirt design. Winners of the competition will have their designs featured on all official PRIDE T-shirts and tote bags as well as free access to the ShanghaiPRIDE official party. 

For more information click 'read more' bleow to visit the official ShanghaiPRIDE website or follow the official WeChat (ID: Shanghai-PRIDE).