More than a thousand people marched through the rain at Taichung’s Rainbow Parade, which returned after a five-year break. Led by a giant rainbow flag, the crowd gathered at Wenxin Forest Park under the theme “Coming Home” - a call to strengthen support for LGBTQ+ people and gender equality across central Taiwan.
Rain couldn’t dampen Taichung’s rainbow return
A giant rainbow flag led more than a thousand people through the rain as Taichung’s Rainbow Parade returned to the city after five years away. More than 20 groups took part, alongside friends, families and people dressed in colourful outfits.
The Liberty Times reported that the march began at Wenxin Forest Park, with businesses also joining the procession with floats combining their logos and rainbow flags. The turnout gave the event the feel of both a celebration and a public show of solidarity.
“Coming Home” puts local connection centre stage
This year’s theme, “Coming Home”, was an invitation for more people in central Taiwan to take part in conversations about equality and support local LGBTQ+ communities. The Taiwan GDi Association said it wanted to bring people together and build a stronger base of friendly support amid continued online hostility towards LGBTQ+ people.
The organiser’s event page also frames the theme as a way to reconnect people with local work on gender equality, human rights, arts and culture. It says LGBTQ+-friendly resources in central Taiwan are spread out, making stronger links between local organisations and activists important.
A five-year gap had practical reasons
The parade’s return follows years of difficulty sustaining the event. The Taiwan GDi Association says limited funding and volunteer capacity had made it hard to hold earlier marches, and its history page notes that the parade stopped from 2022.
That makes the comeback more than a date on the events calendar. The association’s fundraising appeal describes the parade as a community effort and says it received no government funding for the 2026 event, with costs including permits, venue arrangements, equipment and volunteer training.
Speakers called for persistence and support
Music producer and Love Is Daily Music Festival organiser Guo Tzu spoke in support of HIV-related advocacy, urging people to keep going through setbacks. The Liberty Times reported that he reflected on how unlikely it once seemed that a parade would be held in Taichung, and said the rainbow remained in people’s hearts whatever the weather.
Local political figures also attended, including Taichung mayoral candidate Ho Hsin-chun and councillor Huang Shou-ta. Their presence added a civic dimension to a march whose organisers describe public visibility as one way to press for more inclusive policies.
The march made its message visible
The parade’s route through nearby streets turned the theme into a public act: participants carried their message beyond the park and into the city. A police traffic update recorded the procession moving through Gongyi, Dongxing, Xiangshang and Huiwen roads before returning to Wenxin Forest Park.
For anyone following LGBTQ+ events in central Taiwan, the organisers’ pages offer a useful picture of the local groups and aims behind this year’s march. And the rain-soaked turnout suggests that, for many participants, showing up together was the point.
Closing Line
A rainbow flag can lead a march, but it takes a community to keep it moving.
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