Sweden’s capital will be bursting at the seams with eurostars in August, as a cornucopia of former participants join in the fun at Stockholm Pride.
Familiar faces, old and new, will be filling the bill on the classic Thursday evening programme on August 1st, when Stockholm’s streets start to party. From the 2013 contest, punters can bop to performances from winner Emmelie de Forest (Denmark), Margaret Berger (Norway), Ryan Dolan (Ireland), Roberto Bellarosa (Belgium) and Krista Siegfrigs (Finland). Additionally, followers of Melodifestivalen will be able to enjoy live appearances from Sean Banan and Anton Ewald, amongst others. Anton in particular is looking forward to “an awesome festival loaded with love”, while Sean plans to “offer a little more banana” according to the official Stockholm Pride site.
But fans of older contests will have plenty to celebrate as well, since Swedish veterans Marie Bergman and Roger Pontare will be coming together in a recreation of their 1994 duo for the country. Marie, who participated as part of Family Four in 1971 and 1972 for Sweden, opened the contest with the duet Stjärnorna with Roger, who also represented Sweden on home turf as a soloist in 2000.
Back to the beginning
A particular treat will be the appearance of Eurovision’s first song contest winner, Lys Assia, bouncing back to relieved fans after the health issues which marred the beginning of 2013 for the singer. Lys’ welcome appearance gives Stockholm Pride boasts a very special privilege – both the very first and the most recent winners of the Eurovision Song Contest will feature in the same programme. Few events can boast such comprehensive coverage of the contest’s history, fitting for a celebration of diversity and inclusivity. ESC fans of every ilk will have plenty to dance to at Stockholm Pride this year.
