LGBT festival Baltic Pride kicking off in Vilnius

VILNIUS - A six-day Baltic Pride festival, the biggest annual LGBT event in the Baltics, is getting underway in Vilnius on Tuesday. 

The festival will kick off with the opening of the Pride House and an art exhibition entitled "When the Invisible Becomes Visible" at the Lithuanian capital's Paviljonas club on Tuesday evening. 

An international human rights conference will take place on Thursday, with speakers including Malta's Minister for European Affairs and Equality Helena Dalli, Scotland's Minister for Older People and Equalities Christina McKelvie, Irish Senator David Norris, and Marija Golubeva, deputy secretary of the Latvian parliament, and others.

Politicians and other well-known members of the LGBT community will share their personal stories at the Pride Voices Gala at the Lithuanian Russian Drama Theatre on Friday.  

The festival will culminate with the March for Equality along the city's central Gedimino Avenue on Saturday. 

Baltic Pride is an annual LGBT festival rotating in turn between the three Baltic capitals. Vilnius is hosting the festival for the fourth time.