As Antwerp Navigaytion 2008 insisted on messing up a peaceful sunny afternoon on my Antwerp balcony (the china is shaking in my kitchen, the hard-core noise will be shaking the foundations of my riverside home until midnight), I couldn’t resist taking these pictures from this ongoing event (YouTube video coming up). Although Ludo (the Red&Blue owner) had been ‘kind enough’ to mail me a free entrance ticket (along with half of the gay community, clever marketing as usual), I refused to take part in this massive hedonistic private gay dance party on what still is a public space. I kindly waved when he passed me by. The crowd looks very international, with very large numbers of gay visitors from Holland, France and Germany. Most appear quite young, show visible signs of pathological narcissism and behave like members of any crowd: loud, arrogant, dumb, dumber, dumbest. There have been no incidents up to this very moment (7.30 pm UTC/GMT+2). At midnight, the riverside party will move into the nearby gay dance clubs. I just went out buying some groceries at the Hilton shopping center: Antwerp is packed with gay tourists, predominantly in the 18-30 age range.
A large number of locals and casual tourists are taking pictures of the ongoing riverside dance event, only mildly amused by this public show of “gay pride”. Basically, this is the classic gay dance club crowd as seen in any large city: arrogant, provocative and half naked. The social and safe-sex part (4,000 free condoms, along with the presence of ‘thefirstgay.be”) was ignored by most attending.
The weather has been great, so I know who will be laughing all the way to the bank tonight. How do these events make you feel? I’m feeling only slightly annoyed, realized there will be no trace left of “Navigaytion” tomorrow [please click to enlarge]
Shots taken with a Canon between 5-11 pm Saturday June 28, 2008, at the grounds of this narcissistic show of commercial gay hedonism. Notice the cardboard cut-out of the actor: http://www.brucemontague.co.uk starred in a hilarious safe-sex commercial produced by Brussels ad agency www.tbwa.be, commissioned by www.sensoa.be and unexpectedly aired on local TV stations like ATV this morning. Altough the public grabbed the 4,000 free condoms, the Antwerp Gay Pride included extreme/leather venues where safe sex comes as an afterthought. The guy in the last shot (well, boy, he hardly looked 18 ) was body-painted in silver, promoting Bacardi “Razz”, a drink from a company sponsoring the www.antwerppride.eu Pride?, who’s proud? Grab the cash! 
Benjamin uploaded some more short video clips to his blog over at towntalk.worpress.com [Blog in Dutch].
This blog is not affiliated with or endorsed by the city of Antwerp, Belgium.
[...] the 70 yo US tourist replied with a smile. Hey, that’s the spirit [Please click to enlarge - LIVE NOW] Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Tall Ships’ Race 2006 Antwerp: First [...]
Pingback by Navigaytion: first pictures, 24h before kick-off « Antwerp Calling — June 28, 2008 @ 8:37 pm |
ROFL! Oh Peter, that looks like a fun time is having had by all participating! What outfits! The three lolling by the couch…oy…I want those shoes!!!
[Blog author: "Absolutely Claudia: those shoes were without any doubt the best part of it all
I loved the drag queens, I loved the daytime crowd. I hated the 100 dB noise though, it feels like an earthquake on my peaceful balcony. It's now 11 pm in Antwerp and the crowds are slowly moving towards the gay bars. I must stress that I've never seen this many dilated pupils: a significant part of the crowd was not popping 'candy'.... I was even offered "party drugs", right on the sidewalk (uuuh), including "a night together" (he could have been my son) plus various other goodies. Thank God this only happens once a year." ]
Comment by Claudia — June 28, 2008 @ 10:25 pm |
haha, love the silver guy
[Blog author: "He was really special, wasn't he Van? If you look closely you may notice a "Razz" label on his body paint. This guy (well, he hardly looked 18
was promoting Bacardi Razz, a popular rum. I finally decided to walk onto the "party grounds" tonight (entrance fee without drinks: 25 Euro / US $40, but I had a free invitation): the party really turned wild. I've got several videos and about 500 HR shots, maybe I'll post them later." ]
Comment by furiousball — June 29, 2008 @ 12:27 am |
[...] NaviGAYtion 2008 Geplaatst op juni 29, 2008 door Benjamin Een fotoreeks van NaviGAYtion 2008 vind je hier. Een verslag volgt [...]
Pingback by Foto’s NaviGAYtion 2008 « Talk of the Town — June 29, 2008 @ 12:41 am |
So I’m confused; No lesbians in this bunch? Strictly gay men? Is there that much of a schism in the homosexual community there?
[Blog author comment: "Basically, gay men and lesbians tend to stay very separated at these kinds of events in Belgium. There were plenty of (low key) lesbian couples at Navigaytion.be, but the majority were men, along with a significant number of "fag hag" straight women and even straight couples."]
Comment by Mr. Nighttime — June 29, 2008 @ 6:39 pm |
Oh honey, I would offer you a night together too, and I am not even gay. Or male. But my c**k would stay hard a hell of a lot longer than a dude’s would. Just saying. Because I am cheeky like that and you love me.
[Blog author: "
You would be the toast of the town overhere Claudia, my SO almost rolled on the floor reading your comment 
"]
Comment by Claudia — June 29, 2008 @ 6:40 pm |
OMG, Peter, that guy on the bottom right. I totally want to lick his chest. He is GORGEOUS. He can toast my town ANY day! Even his nipples are perfect! I love you. You make my day with these posts. Gay men are beautiful and rock, even in high heels. * muah * to you and your darling s-o *waves*.
[Blog author: "Thank you Claudia! That guy was a contestant in a local "Mr Gay" pageant. Time for a blogpost with some "less beautiful gay men"
"]
Comment by Claudia — June 30, 2008 @ 2:03 am |
Bubble bath wrestling? Oh, I see…Is this the gay equivalent to female mud wrestling?
(Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
[Blog author comment: "Yes, it sure is
Some straight men seem to like wet females in mud, some gay men seem to adore 20-somethings in foam. My dancing days are over, but this bubble bad on a riverbanks pontoon was quite a success. Like you may have noticed, I'm not into public hedonism (this event was visible for anyone on the elevated quay walk), but once a year is definitely not over the top if I look at the 24/24 straight macho behavior (sports, football, etc). Thanks for commenting. I hope I showed a part of Antwerp that is not quite as visible in the traditional tourist guidebooks. "]
Comment by Mr. Nighttime — June 30, 2008 @ 3:20 pm |
Hey there!
Naigaytion was superfun for the rescueteam.
I’m sorry that we couldn’t take to many people on our powerboats, we had a lot of fun with you guys & girls!
cu next year
rescueboy
[Blog author comment: "Given your local IP, I must assume you might be for real. Please enter a URL to pass the moderation queue faster. Thanks! "]
Comment by rescue boy — June 30, 2008 @ 3:47 pm |
Hi Peter! The picture of the people and the yellow couch is BRILLIANT. You should enter it in a contest! You should have it framed! Don’t just leave it here!
Pamela
[Blog author: "Thanks Pamela! You're not the first one to notice that is really was kind of special: it really struck me too when I saw the 8 Mpixel full size version. It really feels like a movie shot. There are even more of these gems between the +500 photos. As I didn't join the "party" I had several hours to chase the most extravagant visitors."]
Comment by Pamela — July 2, 2008 @ 1:00 pm |
Ditto Pamela’s comment on the yellow sofa shot. AMAZING.
Comment by V-Grrrl — July 2, 2008 @ 3:26 pm |
Hi all,
nice pictures
I was just browsing the net to look for any pictures of me during my time of work at navigaytion.
Nice to see my picture here:-) (bacardi-razz boy)
Greets
[Blog author: "My pleasure Ignace. You looked great in body-paint
"]
Comment by Ignace — July 14, 2008 @ 3:24 pm |
Thank god I did not go at all;-) Been there once.. and NEVAAH again!!! I rather play Wii with my friends!! lol
Heard from ppl who went that it was so-so plus some boats did not even leave the port!! (increase of OIL PRICES , i guess, lol)
Seriously, This kinds of parties is such a waste of time. And PRIDE?? Proud of what?
These gays were proud to wear their CCPPs( credit-card-paid-Pradas, lol).
and as I always say b4, why don’t the gay community in general, join the mass majority and have a huge ball/party.. again segregation is not healthy
Finally, my cleaning lady and her kids was walking infront of the entrance of Navigaytion.. someboday handed them condoms..You know what her kid asked her?? ( age 10) “DO THEY (gays) HAVE SEX IN THIS PARTIES?” Oh my (sigh) !!
Furthermore, why would this ppl handing out condoms give a 10 YEAR OLD KID a bloody rubber!!!!! sad sad sad..and PATHETIC
We are giving MOST OF THE TIME the wrong impression to the society.. and if society gives their negative perceptions about us… who shall we blame???? Only them?, I guess no……tsk tsk tsk
[Blog author: "We're all glad this rather silly event is over Miguel. Unfortunately, the "look at me, I'm the cutest" narcissistic attitude is still spreading like wildfire in Antwerp. "]
Peace & Unity
Comment by miguel — August 4, 2008 @ 11:45 pm |
[...] you care for my 2008 Navigaytion pictures and video, feel free to check them out. As for my 2009 shots, please hold. Leave a [...]
Pingback by Antwerp gay pride & Navigaytion 2009: drunken queens on a boat « Antwerp Calling — June 21, 2009 @ 1:53 pm |
[...] boats with gay drunken dancing queens at Navigaytion (www.navigaytion.be ). Party shots and video available here. Leave a [...]
Pingback by The real Antwerp Pride 2009: first pre-navigaytion images « Antwerp Calling — June 26, 2009 @ 4:41 pm |
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