WorldPride Amsterdam 2026 debuts global campaign championing queer unity

WorldPride Amsterdam 2026 has officially launched its first global campaign: The New Dutch Masters, a poetic and visually arresting celebration of queer unity, created by interest-first, creative twin agency Geminaes.

A modern portrait of Pride, painted in motion

Driven by Emma Parkinson’s creative direction and shaped in collaboration with her team, the campaign centres on a hero film inspired by the light, intimacy, and detail of Dutch Golden Age painting. What begins in black and white, quiet, vulnerable portraits inside people’s homes, slowly transforms into full technicolour as individuals step into their most expressive, unfiltered Pride looks.

The transition from stillness to movement mirrors a more profound truth: that queer visibility is not static. It is active. Defiant. Alive. The film ends with a powerful group tableau, a modern remix of the Dutch Masters, this time starring queer individuals as they are: together, proud, and fully themselves.

Emma Parkinson, Creative Director: “I wanted to create a campaign that felt intimate and iconic simultaneously, where softness and power could coexist. This is a love letter to queer presence, to visibility, and to what it means to be truly seen.”

Made by the community

Over 70% of the people involved in the making of this campaign identify as LGBTQIA+, with the remaining 30% made up of active and intentional allies. From the initial concept to the creative direction, casting, styling, scripting, and post, every part of this campaign was shaped by people with lived experience. The cast includes official Pride Amsterdam Ambassadors, alongside a broader collective of queer voices.

Mitchell R. Duffree, Founder & Chief Twin, Geminaes: “This campaign doesn’t just celebrate queer unity, it shows what happens when the community itself leads storytelling. It’s proof that when you build with care, culture, and lived experience, you create something that moves people. That’s what today’s audiences respond to.”

A message that matters, 25 years after a global first

In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage. Twenty-five years later, WorldPride Amsterdam 2026 marks that global first, honouring the generations of courage that made it possible.

But 2026 brings even more milestones worth recognising:

80 years of COC Nederland

55 years since the abolition of Article 248bis

30 years of Pride Amsterdam

25 years since the opening of civil marriage to same-sex couples

15 years of the Declaration of Amsterdam (WorkPlace Pride)

Each anniversary is a reminder: queer freedom didn’t happen overnight. And it isn’t guaranteed. Across the world, LGBTQIA+ rights are still being challenged, making this WorldPride not just a celebration, but a call to unify and protect what’s been won.

That’s why the theme of Unity was chosen. Not just romantic unity, but community unity. Intergenerational unity. Global unity.

Lucien Spee, Executive Director, WorldPride Amsterdam 2026: “With WorldPride coming to Amsterdam, we wanted to begin with something emotionally powerful and visually unforgettable. The New Dutch Masters sets the tone, proud, poetic, and deeply human.”

What’s next

The New Dutch Masters is the first part of a multi-platform campaign leading up to WorldPride 2026. Alongside the hero film, WorldPride Amsterdam and the Geminaes team will release short-form edits, behind-the-scenes stories, social assets and cast portraits across channels, designed to engage communities worldwide.

This moment is bigger than just Amsterdam; it’s about reclaiming space. Making history. And showing the world what true unity looks like, in full colour.

www.pride.amsterdam

www.geminaes.com

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