People from all over Cyprus gathered on Friday evening to celebrate the annual bicommunal pride, which traditionally ends with a big gathering in the buffer zone.

“What makes it so special is that it is the only pride in the world that happens in a buffer zone,” said one Greek Cypriot protester who has been attending the bicommunal pride for eight years.

Protesters gathered at Eleftheria square in the south and at Kugulu park in the north at 6pm and made their way to the buffer zone where they met near the Home for Cooperation.

queer, pride

“It’s my favourite of all three prides because it truly feels like a manifest of queerness, it doesn’t feel instrumentalised by political parties as I feel it is in the south,” a French protester said.

All attendees the Cyprus Mail spoke to say they usually attend all three pride parades that happen on the island starting in early summer, one in the south, one in the north and finally the bicommunal one.

The bicommunal pride, titled “United by Pride” was organised in a joint effort by queer activist groups from the south and the north.