The Disability and Power Pride Parade, organised by Disability Power Ireland and funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, will return to Dublin City this July 27, featuring a celebration that promises to be “bigger and more colourful than ever”. 

This year’s Disability and Power Pride Parade will mark Ireland’s first nationwide celebration of Disability Pride Month, with the event scheduled to kick off at 2pm from Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance, concluding at Custom House Quay. 

Speaking on the upcoming event, Disability Power Ireland Founder Maryam Madani said: “After the success of the Scrap the Green Paper Coalition Campaign, and the Care Referendum, the grassroots disability rights movement in Ireland has a lot to celebrate. We were told that as a result of these campaigns, disability rights have been firmly put on the agenda. Hence our theme this year, ‘Power in Unity’.

“The Disability Pride and Power Parade is a much-needed moment for the disabled community and our allies to come together to make our unmet needs and rights known, to find strength in each other for our individual and collective battles, to experience collective disabled joy, and to celebrate the resilience, creativity, and beauty of our community,” Madani continued. 

“We are trying to raise visibility and change public perception of one of the most deeply marginalised, stigmatised and invisible groups in society, and we want to have a whole lot of fun in the process,” the Disability Power Ireland Founder concluded. 

⚡DATE CHANGE⚡Unfortunately due to the @ipsc48 Palestine March also on July 20th, we have made the difficult to decision to postpone our parade to the following week, Sat July 27th, to make space for both causes. We apologise for the disruption and hope you can still be there. pic.twitter.com/7MlMWaecqF

— Disability Power Ireland (@_DPIreland) July 3, 2024

In addition to this year’s Parade, the day-long festival is set to feature a number of unmissable performances, including a “street spectacle” from the Baubo Theatre and Mr. Balloonatic, as well as drag performances from Viktor Complex and Poppy de Scrace of Disgraceful Cabaret. 

The Acoustic Punk Advocacy Services will keep the tunes flowing between special guest speakers from Ireland’s disability rights movement. 

The Disability and Power Pride Parade, which was originally scheduled for July 20, has been pushed back in order to accommodate an IPSC Palestine protest taking place in Dublin City on the same day. DPOs (disable persons’ organisations) and other grassroots groups such a Disabled Artists and Academics, Neuro Pride Ireland, Access 4 All Ireland, Clare Leader Forum, Voice of Vision Imparment Ireland, Physical Impairment Ireland, TCD Neurodiversity Society, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign and more are expected to march in the upcoming parade. 

The parade will end at Custom House Quay, where some speakers will address the crowd. For those who won’t be able to attend the parade, GCN will be streaming the speeches on our Instagram profile from 3pm onwards.

Disability and ally organisations wishing to participate in the Parade are invited to register with Disability Power Ireland by emailing: [email protected]. 

Disability Power Ireland has similarly launched a GoFundMe campaign for the upcoming Parade and festival to help raise money for a stage wheelchair ramp, an ISL interpreter, and other supports. Interested parties can donate to the fundraiser here.