Gaycation Editorial

CSD Dortmund Leaves the Main Station at 13:00 on 5 September

The 28th CSD Dortmund takes place on Saturday 5 September 2026 under the motto "Fight for Pride, kein Schritt zurueck". The organising umbrella body SLADO has published the timings, the shape of the route and an accessibility guide for the day. Date, place and organiser are on our CSD Dortmund event page; what follows is what the organisers say about the day itself.

Groups begin assembling at noon at the north exit of the main station, in front of the CineStar, and the demonstration sets off at 13:00. The route is just under three kilometres and stays inside the Wallring, the ring road around the old town. The organisers describe it as level, without steep gradients and without stairs, and it reaches the Friedensplatz at around 15:00. Only the organisers' own vehicles travel with the procession, so private cars are not admitted.

The street festival on the Friedensplatz runs from 14:00 to 22:00, which means it opens while the march is still on its way. Associations, advice services and initiatives take an information mile across the square, businesses present themselves alongside them, and the stage carries a mix of talk, music and show through the afternoon. The official aftershow moves indoors to the Domicil from 22:00.

The accessibility guide is worth reading before you travel. All speeches and stage performances are interpreted into sign language. There is a wheelchair-accessible toilet trailer on the Friedensplatz, and seating at the drinks stands with a side view of the stage. Both ends of the day are reachable by lift, the main station at the start and the Stadtgarten underground stop at the festival site. Anyone unable to manage the three kilometres could book a car place, a place on the demo truck with its lift platform, or one of a limited number of wheelchair spaces, by email up to 30 August. The city of Dortmund lists the day in its own event calendar, with versions in easy German and in sign language.

The scene here is small and sits close to the route. We list two bars, gentleM and caféplus, and two clubs, the Don Club and the Burgtorclub.

Germany scores 69.54 out of 100 on ILGA-Europe's Rainbow Index. What that measures, and where the gaps are, is set out on our Germany country page.

Two more Prides follow within the month in reach of Dortmund. CSD Wuppertal is on 12 September, 34 kilometres away, and CSD Offenbach on 19 September, 181 kilometres to the south.

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