Stoa Queer Square – Youth Pride pre-party

Stoa square proudly celebrates Pride in the colours of the rainbow on Wednesday, 26 June 2024 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.!

There will be a variety of colourful workshops from street art to canvas printing and from nail art to sign-making. DJ MORA will be there to make the event even more atmospheric.

The event is aimed at young people aged 13–25 and is free of charge. Restaurant Box Stoa will be open through the event.

Programme partners: Itis Shopping Centre, Queer poetry evening, Operation Pulse! East, Queendom – girls’ and young women’s living room, Sirkus Magenta, Shumicon and Pääkaupunkiseudun Cosplay ry.

The harassment contact person for the Stoa Queer Square event is Elina Kouhia, whom you can contact by phone at 040 577 1167.

PROGRAMME:
Bingo
Welcome to play and win nice prizes! During the event, feel free to come and chat with outreach youth workers.
DJ MORA
The DJ plays music during breaks in the programme and will be creating an epic atmosphere throughout the event, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. DJ MORA is a well-known non-binary artist in the Helsinki club scene.
Care dogs
Enjoy a moment of calm in the midst of the event’s hustle and bustle with the Finnish Kennel Club’s care dogs! Come and pet the dogs from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Itis Lounge and Pronoun badge workshop (Itis Shopping Centre)
Come and make a “Space to be you” badge in the pronoun badge shop and tell your own story!
Face painting, temporary rainbow tattoos and pop-up boxing try out
The station has face painting and temporary rainbow tattoos. You can also try boxing there.
Sign workshop
Come create slogans and prepare custom signs for Saturday’s Pride parade! There are paints, markers, cardboard and brushes for you to use on site. You can also take your own sign-making accessories with you.
Nail art station (Youth Activity House Kipinä)
At the nail art station, our young artists create stunning manicures with basic nail polishes, in all the colours of the rainbow! The station has turn numbers, as the queueing time can be more than half an hour, so please arrive on time!
Parade for a Better Tomorrow workshop
Welcome to the Parade for a Better Tomorrow non-stop workshop from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. We’ll be daydreaming, dancing and building props for the Pride parade.
Pride ribbon workshop
Come and make yourself a ribbon inspired by the colour of your pride flag! In the workshop, you also have the opportunity to craft other decorations in the colours of pride flags.
Queer poetry evening
The Queer poetry evening is a space celebrating all forms of art: poetry, performance, music and visual arts. Our evenings have an open mic where you can perform in any language and any art form you want. The evening starts with a performance by the lovely guest performer Gachi.
LGBTQIA+ print workshop
In the workshop, you can decorate textiles with gorgeous LGBTQIA+ vinyl prints! A limited number of recycled fabric bags are available. You can also take your own bag, shirt or other thin textile with you for printing.
Rainbow Shelf presents
The Rainbow Shelf pop-up station gives you the best tips for LGBTQIA+ literature, and you can borrow reading material to take home. Feel free to also leave your own tip for others to find on the Book Relationships wall!
Rainbow Café with outdoor games, jewellery workshop and street chalk art (St. Matthew’s Church & Snellu Cafe)
Jewellery and street chalk workshops and outdoor games. In the jewellery workshop, you can make Pride-themed jewellery and, in the street chalk workshop, you can draw your own Pride greetings on the rainbow path.
Colourful graffiti workshop
In the workshop, you can try different graffiti styles on the Stoa square street art wall.
Colourful circus workshop
Join Sirkus Magenta’s colourful circus workshop from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.! Circus instruction for everyone, where you can try a variety of circus equipment. Sirkus Magenta’s circus directors act as the instructors.