LGBT events in Florianopolis

Florianopolis, or Floripa for those in-the-know, is a gay-friendly destination year-around but it becomes a BIG gay destination for certain events: Pride Week and Carnival- now a strong rival to Rio, as the coolest and biggest Gay Carnival in Brazil - are already favorites in the hearts of gay & lesbian Brazilians & South Americans;

The New Year holidays' period has been attracting an increasing number of gay tourists in recent years, but this year it should be definitely included in the Brazilian Gay Events calendar as the mega Sao Paulo club, The Week International, announced that will open its Island base during that week.

They are the latest of the circuit parties to realize the demand from LGBT tourism in that period of the year- E-Joy has been coming for years, attracting thousands and local clubs open all week to cater to locals and tourists alike.

On top of that, the fireworks display in New Year's eve is one of the best in the world!

So, if you are planning to come, book early: Brazil Ecojourneys has already special packages for New Year's in Floripa.

Florianopolis Gay Carnival 2011

Be prepared! Mix Brasil, the main LGBT site in Brazil, already crowned Florianopolis the gay-est Carnival in Brazil in 2011.

Besides the Carnival parties like the Samba School Parade on Saturday night and the Pop Gay Festival on Monday night, gay guys that love to party and electronic music fans will be in for a treat.

The Week Florianópolis, elected the most beautiful gay club in Brazil by Junior magazine, confirmed the already traditional DJ's line-up for its 5 parties in Praia Mole (from 4th to 8th March): Tony Moran, Isaac Escalante, Peter Rauhofer, Juanjo Martin & Rosabel are all booked for the Floripa Club. Expect a sea of shirtless (gorgeous) men dancing day & night.

Nearby in Lagoa, E-Joy, the much loved circuit party from Sao Paulo, returns with 2 parties at the Yacht Club- Sunday 6th they bring Kelly Rowland and on Tuesday the 8th , Hugo Sanches, from Spain.

The local gay & lesbian clubs, Concorde and Mix Café open every night from 4th to 12th March and are confirming big national attractions too. Concorde also offers the only exclusive party for gay girls on Friday 4th.

Not exclusively gay but also a treat for those that enjoy e-music will be the Carnival Music Park in the POSH Club in Jurere- big names like David Guetta , Armin van Buuren, Axwell , Kaskade and Bob Sinclair are confirmed.

And to "recover", Bar do Deca, in the gay beach of Praia Mole, will have beach parties for the whole week from mid-afternoon to well after sunset.

Brazil Ecojourneys has last minute packages still available for Carnival in Florianopolis from more affordable guesthouses to luxurious high-end Villas in Praia Mole.

Good news for Gay Girls: A full-time lesbian bar in Floripa!

Caravana is a very friendly lesbian-owned bar located in Lagoa. In the beginning it did not advertise itself as a girl's bar but now is out and proud!

The public is 90% women but a few gay men and friendly straight couples also show up for the good music and relaxed atmosphere.

The name comes from the caravan trailer from where they started the business. Now they have a small bar inside with a dance floor and a huge outside deck for the Summer days and nights.

Besides music and drinks they also serve "fusion food"- not Asian fusion but an eccletic mix of snacks and daily specials for main dishes. The home-made burgers are excellent!

The best thing is that opens early (from 5pm Wed- Fri and from noon till late on weekends)- the only gay bar in Floripa to do so! From Xmas it will open daily to get all those girls (and boys) coming back from Praia Mole.

Caravana - Fusion Food e Trailer - +55 48 32320045

Bar do Deca, Praia Mole, Floripa

Bar do Deca, the most famous gay beach bar in Brazil, has DJs from 1pm until well after the sunset in Summer , so a lot of people was there last Sunday to enjoy the end of a gorgeous, sunny afternoon.

I love people watching at Deca and was amazed by the mix of nationalities there. Brazilians, Argentineans, Paraguayans, English, Germans, North Americans, Spanish...


Looks like Carnival 2010 will be great fun!

Looking back at 2009

2009 has been a great year for us working with LGBT tourism in Florianopolis.

The international media and travel professionals from around the world seemed to have discovered Floripa.

Following a successful event for its members in March, the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association chose Florianopolis to be the host of its 2012 Convention. This is the first time that this event, the most important for Gay & Lesbian tourism in the world, will be held south of the Equator.

Articles on Gay Floripa appeared in major Gay & Lesbian magazines: the Passport Magazine from the US, Beige Travel and Diva Magazine from the UK, Du & Ich (a 40 year-old Gay mag!) and in multiple titles from Publigayte in Germany.

All seemed to agree that Floripa is the next big destination for gay travellers in South America.

The local community also had quite a lot to celebrate: 2009 saw our biggest Pride ever with almost 100,000 people attending the Parade on a cold and rainy day in September. That same day an anti-discrimination law was approved by the local town council, giving us hope that equal rights are now achievable in Brazil in the not so distant future.

Welcome 2010 - see you in Floripa!

New Site for Floripa LGBT Pride

We just finished the new site for Diversidade Floripa, Florianopolis LGBT Pride Week. The site is only in Portuguese(for now) but it is very informative.

There is information about the cultural programs, about the Diversity Games (LGBT Sports Day), about Florianopolis for visitors and a section ( EU VOU!) for those coming to Pride to comment or to invite friends.

www.diversidadefloripa.org.br

Floripa Pride - Acceptance & Respect

Florianopolis is gearing up for its Pride Parade on 6th of September. We are in the organizing commitee, so lots of work to be done in the next 5 weeks. The theme this year is acceptance and respect ( Eu aceito, Eu respeito)- specially related to our own families. The focus will be on the positive examples of the families that do accept & respect our sexual orientation. So I thought this banner from the Pride in Sao Paulo is very relevant. Here it goes.

It says "it is the duty of the family to protect its children from all forms of cruelty, oppression and discrimination". Ditto.

Thanks to Clovis Casemiro for this photo.

LGBT travel trade discovers Florianopolis

Last week Brazil Ecojourneys co-hosted the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) bi-annual International Symposium here in Florianopolis.

This event, organised by Santa Catarina Tourist Board and the Brazilian Association of Gay & Lesbian Tourism (ABRAT-GLS), was the biggest international event for LGBT tourism ever organised in Brazil. More than 300 people including IGLTA members from South America, USA, Canada & Australia participated.

During 4 days travel agents, tour operators, local tourist boards and journalists had the opportunity to get to know some of Florianopolis attractions, join the discussions in the International LGBT Forum and network in a very busy market place.

Brazilian and international LGBT media also attended so we will add links to their articles as they come out.

Click here to read Roy Heale's comments about the trip on IGLTA's INSIDER OUT TRAVEL blog.