{"id":75605,"date":"2026-04-21T02:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T02:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/75605\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T02:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T02:37:09","slug":"israel-set-to-host-middle-easts-largest-pride-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/75605\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel set to host Middle East’s largest pride festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel will host the Middle East\u2019s largest-ever LGBTQ <\/a>festival in the summer, with organizers planning to build a veritable \u201cPride City\u201d at the Dead Sea.<\/p>\n

The new Pride Land festival will transform a section of the Judean Desert into a party destination with 15 hotels and beach complexes, plus parties and performances running around the clock, the Jerusalem Post reported. <\/a><\/p>\n

The festival is slated to start on June 1 and run for four days, serving as the largest such event ever held in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Israel is set to host the largest pride festival in the Middle East on June 1. AP<\/p>\n

Organizers hope to build a literal Pride City by the Dead Sea for the four-day festival. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Aaron Cohen, the main producer and initiator of the festival, said Pride Land will be the biggest undertaking for Israel\u2019s LGBTQ community<\/a>, much larger than the annual parade held in Tel Aviv. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo take an investment of millions, purchase entire hotels for four days, and build a city from scratch in the middle of the desert,\u201d Cohen told the JPost. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an experience that lives 24\/7, from quiet visits to nights of pride, with a living envelope of music and people,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

While the parties are the biggest draw for the festival, Cohen said there will also be a dedicated space for families and children to enjoy scenic views along with cultural events and workshops.<\/p>\n

The event is said to draw a bigger crowd than the annual Pride Parade held in Tel Aviv. AP<\/p>\n

The ultimate goal of the festival is to create a multigenerational \u201cPride City\u201d to unite locals and tourists. The festival is also set to highlight the Dead Sea<\/a> as a key getaway for LGBTQ visitors, organizers said.<\/p>\n

The promotion for the festival comes at a rough time for tourism in Israel, which has suffered due to its ongoing conflict with Iran and its terror proxy, Hezbollah, in neighboring Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Both conflicts are currently under a cease-fire, with peace talks being pushed, but it remains to be seen if the wars will end any time soon. <\/p>\n

The US State Department continues to advise that Americans avoid travel to Israel due to the heightened risk of terrorism and civil unrest in the region. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel will host the Middle East\u2019s largest-ever LGBTQ festival in the summer, with organizers planning to build a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[27578,27579,37,22687,27580,82],"class_list":["post-75605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-festivals","tag-gay-pride","tag-israel","tag-lgbtqia","tag-pride","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116440376477747770","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}