Stockholm turns rainbow-coloured for gay pride
The Swedish capital Stockholm was painted rainbow-coloured on Saturday as its 12th annual gay pride march kicked off in the city centre.
Stockholm Pride has been running since 1998 and is said to be the largest parade of its kind in northern Europe.
Part demonstration, part music festival, the event is a quirky mix of culture and politics.
Revellers joined a number of Swedish celebrities as they strutted through the streets of Stockholm, sporting an array of glamourous and colourful costumes.
Representatives from the capital city's major football clubs AIK, Djurgaarden and Hammarby also took part.
"I think it is important in today's society that sports clubs also support this kind of thing," Victoria Svensson, an openly gay footballer with the Djurgaarden and Swedish women's football teams, was quoted as saying by the TT news agency.
This year's musical offerings had a distinctly retro theme as festival-goers danced to live acts such as former Soft Cell vocalist Marc Almond, German Europop artist Haddaway and Dr Alban.
For the past week, bars, cafes, buses and taxis have flown the rainbow flag, an emblem for the gay community worldwide, to mark Stockholm Pride.
Even the politicians are getting in on the act. The headquarters of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's Moderate Party had the same flag draped across its windows.
Sweden, known for its liberal attitudes, passed a law earlier this year allowing homosexuals to marry in a religious ceremony.