Stretto Pride, the Pride march of Messina, is on Saturday 12 September 2026. The organisers have set the gathering point at Piazza Antonello da Messina, in the middle of the city, at 17:00. The full route had not been published when this was written, and last year's march also set off from Piazza Antonello, half an hour earlier in the afternoon. Our Stretto Pride event page has the date and the organising committee.
Who this edition is for
Arcigay Makwan Messina, which organises the march, has dedicated this year's Pride to trans and non-binary people, who it says are too often the target of persecution and violence. The demands published with that dedication are schools that teach respect and consent, healthcare and workplaces without prejudice, real instruments against hate crime, legal recognition for every kind of family, and a society that leaves nobody behind. The same document rejects misogyny, sexism, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, ableism and homolesbobitransphobia in one line, and puts the march behind Emergency's R1PUD1A campaign against war. The full text is linked from the association's own site, which otherwise carries very little about the day: the Pride is run through the association's Instagram account rather than through a festival website, so that is where a change of time or route will appear.
Sulla rotta dei diritti
The slogan of the edition, sulla rotta dei diritti, means on the route of rights, and the route in question is a shipping one. Messina sits on the Strait and the ferries to Calabria cross it all day, and the poster is built on that. The official artwork was donated by two illustrators from a Messina studio, Lelio Bonaccorso and Michela De Domenico, and was unveiled at the end of July along with this year's shirts.
Messina and the country
We list one place in Messina, the naturist beach at Capo Rasocolmo on the coast north of the city, so this is not a weekend built around a scene. It is a march in a port city, and the 17:00 start leaves the evening free.
Italy scores 24.11 of 100 on ILGA-Europe's Rainbow Index. Same sex couples have had civil unions since 2016, with inheritance, pension and name rights, but there is no marriage and adoption is limited, so the children of same sex parents sit in an unsettled legal position. Legal gender recognition has not required surgery since 2015, which is worth knowing on a march dedicated to trans people. Our Italy country page sets it out.
