Seoul's annual LGBTQ festival to take place in Euljiro on July 1

By Kim Hyun-soo

SEOUL, June 7 (Yonhap) -- An annual LGBTQ festival by local sexual minorities will take place in downtown Seoul on July 1, organizers said Wednesday, expecting some 50,000 people to participate in the day's street parade.

The 24th Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF) will be held in the Euljiro 2-ga area and participants will march through downtown Seoul, including Seoul Plaza, the organizing committee said at a press conference.

In previous years, the festival was mainly held in Seoul Plaza, the city's landmark place located in front of Seoul City Hall.

This year, however, a Christian group has obtained the municipal authorities' approval for the use of the plaza on the same day. In early May, a civic committee under the Seoul Metropolitan Government approved the CTS Cultural Foundation's plan to hold a Christian youth concert in Seoul Plaza for two days from June 30.

The Seoul festival for the LGBTQ community and its supporters had been held every year since 2000 in various neighborhoods around the city before moving to Seoul Plaza in 2015. The festival at Seoul Plaza then continued until 2019 before switching to online events due to COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021.

Besides the street parade, various other events, including a queer film festival, an online queer parade and a rainbow merchandise festa, will also take place from June 22 to July 9, the SQCF organizing committee said, adding a total of 150,000 people are expected to participate in this year's festival events.

sookim@yna.co.kr
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