Tel Aviv Pride Parade to Go Ahead as Planned Despite Security Concerns

After days of uncertainty and fears of a postponement because of a day of fighting with Iran and the security situation, the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality said the annual Pride Parade will take place tomorrow, Friday, as planned. The parade, which will be held this year under the slogan "Vote with Your Feet," will return to its traditional route along the promenade and end with a large party at Charles Clore Park. The municipality expects hundreds of thousands of participants from Israel and abroad.

The parade will mark 28 years since its founding and will begin at 1:00 p.m. from Shelag Street, near Gordon Beach and the Lahat Promenade. Participants will march south to Daniel Street, accompanied by colorful trucks and buses from organizations, nightlife lines and communities from the LGBTQ space. On the main stage at Charles Clore Park, which will open at 12:00 p.m., dozens of performers are expected to appear, including Anna Zak, Dikla, Netta Barzilai, Ivri Lider, Ran Danker, Shahar Taboch, Tipex, Karolina, Yuval Raphael, Valerie Hamaty and many others. The event will be hosted by the stars of the musical "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," Lee Biran, Michael Ben David and Tal Klai. In parallel with the main stage, the "Love 360 Stage" will operate, opening at 2:30 p.m. and hosting a lineup of leading DJs, including Neta Zavi, Ganish, Sharon Atar, Noam Leshem and Bobaz Lobster.

This year too, the parade will include prominent nightlife lines from Tel Aviv's LGBTQ scene, including "PAG," "Gender Blender," "Forever," "Lolly," "Topless" and "Drek." The first truck will be led by the Tel Aviv Municipality's LGBTQ Center. Ahead of the parade, the city decorated the streets with about 600 Pride flags. New hanging points were added this year on Washington Boulevard in the Florentin neighborhood and in Neve Shaanan, and the coverage was expanded in the area of the Aaliyah Country Club. In addition, the façade of the Habima Theatre was illuminated for the first time in Pride colors and will remain lit until Saturday night.

Road closures and transportation changes

Already from today, many streets and roads in the city will be closed. The municipality called on the public to arrive by public transportation and to prepare in advance for significant changes to traffic arrangements. From Thursday at 4:00 p.m. until Friday at 8:00 p.m., parking will be prohibited on central streets along the promenade, including Herbert Samuel, Hayarkon, Gordon and Kaufmann, as well as on streets crossing the area.

Tomorrow, starting at approximately 6:30 a.m., the following roads will be closed to traffic: Rokach Boulevard westbound from Ibn Gabirol; Hayarkon Street southbound from Jabotinsky Street, and northbound from Yosef Halevi Street to Y.L. Gordon; Herbert Samuel Street southbound from Shelag Street to Ezkel Kaufmann Street, including the service road; Ezkel Kaufmann Street northbound from Eilat Street to Yosef Halevi Street; Nahum Goldman Street northbound from Eilat Street to Yosef Halevi Street; Nahum Goldman Street northbound from Clock Square to Kaufmann; Eilat Street westbound from Aluffeld Street; Elifelet Street northbound from Shlomo Road; Shlomo Road westbound from Elifelet Street; and Mappo Street from Yehoash Street to Hayarkon Street.

The full closure map:

Also to be closed: Frishman Street from Dizengoff Street to Herbert Samuel Street; Trumpeldor Street from Ben Yehuda Street to Herbert Samuel Street; Ness Ziona Street from Ben Yehuda Street to Hayarkon Street; Geula Street from HaKovshim Street to Herbert Samuel Street; Nehemia Street from HaKovshim Street to Herbert Samuel Street; and the Karmelit Street from HaKovshim Street to Hayarkon Street.

Exit routes from the city are via Eilat, Jaffa, Menachem Begin, HaRakevet, La Guardia, Pinsker, Bograshov, Tchernichovsky, Dizengoff, Kaplan, Jabotinsky, Namir Road, Y.L. Gordon, Shlomo HaMelech, HaNeviim, and Shaul HaMelech Boulevard.

During the event, more than 1,000 uniformed and undercover police officers, Border Police fighters, volunteers, standby squad volunteers and inspectors from the Tel Aviv Municipality's Sela unit will be deployed to allow the event to take place safely. Police stressed that during the event additional streets may be closed in order to ensure it can be held safely. On the day of the event, the closures and access routes will be marked in the Waze app.

The municipality said weapons, sharp objects, animals, bicycles and scooters, two-wheeled vehicles and batteries will not be allowed into the event area. At the end of the event, the "Naim BaSofash" lines will be reinforced, departing from the Karmelit terminal toward Givatayim and Ramat Hasharon every 15 minutes between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. In addition, a special shuttle, line 700, will operate from the Karmelit terminal every eight minutes and pass through Rothschild Boulevard, Habima Square, Rabin Square and Ichilov Medical Center.

First published: 5:27 p.m., 10.06.26