Paesello Pride

The Pride born in the small towns

Paesello Pride is an LGBTQIA+ rights event held in the municipalities of Cammarata and San Giovanni Gemini, two twin towns nestled in the mountainous hinterland of the Agrigento province in Sicily. When the parade first marched through the streets of these two towns in 2024, it became the first Pride ever organized in the province of Agrigento: a historic event for a territory of small villages, where queer individuals often grow up without recognition or safe spaces.

A parade across two municipalities

The heart of the day is the rainbow parade, which sets off in the late afternoon from Piazzale Camilleri in Cammarata, crossing both municipalities and uniting them in a single celebration. Floats, rainbow flags, slogans, dancing, and music accompany participants through the historic streets in an atmosphere of shared joy that involves residents, families, and visitors from all over Sicily.

Cori The Project and the value of staying

The event is organized by Cori The Project, a social promotion association born locally to provide support and visibility to the LGBTQIA+ community in small towns. Paesello Pride is more than just a parade: it is an act of restanza—the idea that it is possible to imagine and build a fulfilling life even in the places from which one is often forced to leave. This bond between queer identity and local belonging gives the event its unique strength.

Celebration, music, and entertainment

The activist aspect of the parade is always accompanied by a celebration featuring live music, DJ sets, and drag performances. The first edition featured performer Aura Eternal Visage, a well-known face from Drag Race Italia, as godmother, highlighting the cheerful and inclusive spirit of the event. Every year, the appointment attracts a growing audience to the two towns, transforming the squares into spaces of encounter and freedom.

An August appointment in the Sicilian hinterland

Part of the national Onda Pride calendar, Paesello Pride is traditionally held in early August and represents one of the most symbolic "village Prides" in Italy. For Cammarata and San Giovanni Gemini, towns of a few thousand inhabitants at the foot of Mount Cammarata, it has become a defining moment that brings inland Sicily to the center of the civil rights debate.