100K join Helsinki Pride rally showing unity with sexual, gender minorities

Several thousands of people from different strata on Saturday joined the Helsinki Pride rally and expressed their solidarity with the rights and equality for sexual and gender minorities in the country.

Police and Helsinki Pride estimated that about 100,000 people joined the rally started at the noon in the Helsinki centre and paraded around different important vantages.

The rally organised by Helsinki Pride Community started at Senate Square and ended at Kaivopuisto peacefully through Aleksanterinkatu, Mannerheimintie, Pohjoisesplanadi, Fabianinkatu, Makasiinikatu, Kasarmikatu and Neitsytpolku to support to LGBTQIA+ rights.

Participants at the parade bearing rainbow flags and various banners and festoons also chanted slogans.

The parade, however, impacted vehicular movement on Mannerheimintie, and on the roads from Esplanadi to Kaivopuisto for several hours.

The overall parade was held peacefully from the police's perspective, said police in a press release.

Police arrested two people outside the parade for intoxication and general disturbance.

IrisHelsinki recognised with Pride Changes the World award

The Helsinki Pride community hands out annual Pride Changes the World awards to highlight operators whose work to promote the human rights of sexual and gender minorities is particularly worthy of recognition, said the City of Helsinki in a press release on Saturday.

The recipient of the award in 2026 is IrisHelsinki, which is part of City of Helsinki Youth Services.

IrisHelsinki is the City of Helsinki’s rainbow youth centre, which organises youth evenings, small group activities and outings for LGBTQ+ young people aged 13–25 and their friends.

Peers and youth workers with expertise in LGBTQ+ issues serve as instructors. IrisHelsinki works in close collaboration with third-sector LGBTQ+ organisations and carries out outreach work in educational institutions, with the aim of enhancing young people’s sense of safety and wellbeing within their own environments.

“IrisHelsinki is being recognised for its exceptionally impressive and successful work in safeguarding the wellbeing of young people. Over the last few years, the organisation has established itself and grown significantly, expanding its activities to meet the growing need among LGBTQ+ young people to find communities of their own. The activities have reached a vast number of young people in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, and rainbow youth have really made the facilities and evenings their own: the activities now reach around 40–50 young people each time an event is hosted. IrisHelsinki engages in vital work to reduce loneliness among young people and provides them with a space where everyone can be themselves,“ said Matti Numminen, Chairperson of the Helsinki Pride Community Board of Trustees.

“City of Helsinki Youth Services is proud to receive this award. This recognition is a wonderful testament to the persevering work of our youth instructors. It is important for young people to find places that support their growth and the development of their self-knowledge. We particularly want to emphasise the importance of equality and non-discrimination for everyone,” said Area Manager Ilmo Jokinen of the City of Helsinki Youth Services.

The other award winners are ice hockey player Ronja Savolainen and actor Niki Rautén.

Helsinki Pride Week, the biggest human rights and cultural event in the country started on June 22 amidst various programmes and will end on Sunday, according to Helsinki Pride and the City of Helsinki.