This means a week full of street parties, cultural and sports activities, exhibitions and other activities.

Like every year, the most popular part is the Gay Pride Canal tour, a tour of dozens of large boats and numerous smaller boats, with all kinds of gay themes. This is always on the first Saturday in August (this year August 1), and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Here is a map with the route of the Amsterdam Gay Pride tour, which starts at 2pm.

This year, the mayor of Amsterdam will marry 5 gay couples during the canal tour, on one of the boats. The couples each consist of a Dutch and an American person. It is meant as a signal to the US, where gay marriage is still not allowed in many states.

All activities are listed on the website http://www.weareproud.nl