2024 Quezon City Pride festival cut short due to heavy rain

MANILA, Philippines – The Quezon City government and organizers Pride PH had to cut short the “Love Laban 2 Everyone” Pride Night concert on Saturday, June 22, due to heavy rain, the Quezon City Police Department told Rappler.

Before the cancellation, the event hosts announced at around 6:30 pm they were pausing the event for the safety of the performers, organizers, and audience.

Because the event was cut short, headliners BINI, Vice Ganda, and Gloc-9 weren’t able to perform on stage for the thousands who trooped to Quezon City to celebrate Pride.

Pride Night was the culminating activity of the festival that saw at least 70,000 people wearing Pride colors and carrying placards as they walked along the streets of Quezon City, where the Philippines’ and Asia’s first Pride march was held 30 years ago.

The march started past 2 pm. Although the Elliptical Road, which circumscribes the Quezon Memorial Circle, was crowded with marchers, LGBTQ+ advocates and their allies were in high spirits, with some playing musical instruments and others shouting their most creative Pride chants.

Some of the people’s placards read “No Room for Discrimination,” while others brought the issue of the human rights situation in Gaza to this year’s march. A colorful float parade also graced the streets of Quezon City.

As organizers expected a huge turnout for this year’s Pride festival, two separate marches were held in Quezon City that converged at Elliptical Road.

The “Love” march, comprising Quezon City government officials, workplace diversity and business representatives, and other attendees from outside the Quezon Memorial Circle, originated from Tomas Morato Street.

The “Laban (Fight)” march, meanwhile, originated from Kalayaan Avenue and Matalino Street and comprised representatives from human rights organizations, students, and elderly people, among others.

Despite the two simultaneous marches, Quezon City traffic officers were able to control the flow of traffic between the Quezon Memorial Circle and Quezon City Hall by letting people cross along Elliptical Road during certain points of the march. 

Other Pride marches were also held simultaneously in different parts of the