Gaycation Editorial

Ume Pride's Parade Leaves Döbelns Park at Noon on 26 September

Ume Pride's parade sets off at noon on Saturday 26 September 2026. Marchers gather in Döbelns park from 11:30 and are back at the park at about 13:00, where speeches and a stage programme run until 13:45. The parade is one Saturday, but the programme the organisers publish spreads a week around it, from Monday 21 September to Sunday 27 September. Dates and location are on our Ume Pride listing.

The week before

It opens on the university campus. A rainbow photo walk starts at 12:00 on 21 September at Umeå University and repeats at the same time on 23 September, with a seminar on inclusion and respect at 12:15 on the Monday. A second seminar on the Wednesday is listed as cancelled. On Thursday 24 September, Kulturhuset Klossen runs Gaym Night from 18:00 to 22:00.

Friday 25 September carries most of it. Drag story hour is at 10:00 at the Hörnefors family centre, where the drag artist Liam Teasem reads stories about friendship and acceptance. A pop quiz runs from 15:00 on the Kajscenen at Väven, and a meeting for rainbow families starts at the same hour at the city library. The city church is open for a rainbow gathering from 17:00 to 21:00. From 18:00 there is a talk at Umeå Folkets Hus and a Pride evening at Hamnmagasinet that runs to 23:00, then a music café at Folkuniversitetet at 19:00, a film at Folkets Bio at 20:00, and the stand-up show at Rex at 20:00 with the comedians Vendela Gold and Moa von Zeipel.

After the parade

The local politicians' debate follows at 13:45 at Umeå Folkets Hus and runs an hour. A service, Kärlekens mässa, is at 14:30 at the city church, and a talk on queer myth at 15:00 at Folkets Hus. The party, Umepride Goes Hollywood, is at O'Learys from 20:00 until 02:00. Sunday 27 September stays with the churches and the galleries: a rainbow service at 11:00 and a session on queer theology at 13:00, both at Ålidhemskyrkan, a performance at 14:00 at Bildmuseet, and a film at Folkets Bio at 18:00.

The university walks with it

Umeå University holds Pride on Campus from 21 to 26 September, the second year it has run the week, and joins the parade with a block of its own for the third year. The university says the programme is free and open to everyone, with advance registration for some items. Anyone who wants to walk in the university's block has to sign up by Friday 18 September.

Sweden, and getting there

Sweden scores 68.43 out of 100 on ILGA-Europe's Rainbow Index, and our country page for Sweden sets out the legal position behind that number. Umeå is the largest city in Norrland, roughly 600 kilometres north of Stockholm, reached by train or by air. We list no venues in the city, which makes Pride week the easiest week of the year to find the rooms that carry the scene: Rex, Hamnmagasinet, Väven, Folkets Hus and O'Learys each take part of the programme.

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