Canal Parade

Description

Route

Oosterdok – Nieuwe Herengracht – Amstel – Prinsengracht – Westerdok

Visitors on boats

Due to the growing number of visitors who want to arrive by boat and the limited space available, visitors arriving by boat need a Pride Vignette. If you want to come to Pride with family or friends by boat (up to 10 metres) and moor along the quay, this is possible with a Pride Vignette. This helps prevent groups that do not contribute to organising our Pride from staging their own parties during our event and creating most of the nuisance. Sales of Pride Vignettes will start on 1 July 2026 via www.botenparade.nl.

Visitors on the quayside

To create space for the many visitors on the quayside, it will be made car-free and a parking ban will be in effect on Saturday 1 August from 00:00 to 23:59. Residents with a parking permit will be given the opportunity by the municipality to park elsewhere (indoors).

Notice about Photography and Videography

During this event, photo, video and audio recordings will be made for promotional, communication and editorial purposes by the organisation. By entering the event area and/or participating in the event you grant the organisation permission to capture and use images in which you may be recognisable via, among other channels, website, social media, print and other (online and offline) communication channels. No separate consent is required for this use and there is no right to compensation.

No amplified music on the quayside

To improve the event experience and further reduce environmental noise, since 2019 amplified sound on moored boats and on the shore along the route is no longer permitted.

Visitors with disabilities

We’ve also considered visitors with disabilities and created a safe area where people need not fear falling into the water with their wheelchair. We will cordon off a section of quay and provide wheelchair-accessible toilets there. Important: a maximum of 1 companion per visitor is allowed.

The registration form is now closed

Food & Drink

Along the route we have licensed bars at several points selling beer, wine and soft drinks, and snack trucks offering burgers, fries, hot dogs, satay or a ham roll. The concessionaires help make the boats parade possible. We hope you appreciate that and will buy your drinks and snacks from them where possible.

Please use the toilet!

Sometimes you may need to walk farther for a urinal or wait longer in line for paid, clean toilets — we are aware of that and try to provide as many facilities as possible. That we don’t always get it right is also true, but it is disrespectful to urinate on a car, drop your trousers in an entranceway, or urinate against trees or through mailboxes. Public urination is prohibited in Amsterdam under the General Local By-law (APV) and carries a fine of €140. At the bottom of this page you will find a map showing all toilet facilities.

Keep Amsterdam clean

We understand that hundreds of thousands of Pride visitors can leave a significant amount of litter, but we want to keep this to a minimum and ask everyone to use rubbish bags and deposit them in one of our bins along the route after the event.

Toilets

Aftermovies

Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1000, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Small local LGBT organisations, national LGBT advocacy groups, gay horeca, pink networks within multinationals and banks, pink public institutions, political parties, ministries and (media) companies that support LGBT emancipation could register until 2 February 2026. On Saturday 14 February, during the kick-off event at Hotel Arena, it was announced which submissions best matched the theme and were awarded a start permit for Saturday 1 August 2026.

Despite heavily subsidised start permits for LGBTQIA+ organisations, total participation costs can still be high and sometimes leave little budget to dress the boat nicely. To convey the substantive message well and keep the parade interesting for the public, that is necessary. Therefore, participants in categories 3 and 4 (Rainbow Friends S and L) and 10 and 11 (Pride Rainbow Partner L and XL) can apply to our visibility fund for a financial contribution of up to €5,000. The grant may not exceed 50% of the total costs.

Price list & Participant regulations 2026

Selection framework Canal Parade 2026