I've been screaming in quite a number of different posts, but I think it is worth summarizing and collecting in one post, so, here we go.
as you probably know because I can't keep quiet about it, we did a big pride flag push for Lights Up for HSLOT Prague, which I started preparing less than a month before the show and was then joined mainly by @nauticallyrics, while another rainbow project (sectored rainbow lights) was planned for TPWK and we coordinated with the organizers. While @nauticallyrics and I managed to buy larger packs of flags on amazon, it was not easy to get flags in Czech rep, order them so that they'd get to people in time for the show etc., but the project was locally met with unbelievably positive reactions and people started printing flags and gluing them to paper straws or sticks, a lot of flags were painted and drawn (someone even glued stripes of coloured paper together), so many people were working on making hundreds of flags like that and it was absolutely unbelievable that people came together in such a way. When we got in front of the venue, there were so many rainbows already, big flags and small flags and at some point our volunteers even struggled finding people without flags. And so many people were distributing flags as well! In the end we managed to hand out all of the flags that we had. You can get a pretty good idea of what it looked like before the show here.
Harry in Prague on July 15.
I've been talking about the way people were working so hard to make this work here a lot, the project instagram was very active, sharing people's photos of the diy flags, encouraging others to do the same, we were pushing it on tiktok as well which helped us a lot, and we also talked about people bringing big flags for Harry to pick up during the song, because it would be sad if he didn't when we were doing such a project, and I mentioned that several times here as well. The thing is, Harry seemed to know that the project was coming - we have no idea where he knew from or for how long he has known, but he surely did and there were a few indicators, the most evident one of them was the way he made sure to get a flag. The video which I'm referring to is here. Those of us who were in the pit actually saw this happen - a flag landed on the stage, Harry was walking away and then came back for it and held it folded up in his hand before the song even started. This was a moment in which many people started reaching for their flags as well, telling each other to get ready, I started undoing my big flag etc., and I actually saw he joined us - he quite literally joined us in getting ready for the project. But it was dark and seeing the videos taken from the sides, most people would just see him with a flag in his hand when the lights went up as the song was beginning. Given the fact that he hasn't picked up a flag during Lights Up at the following three shows even though two of them had rainbow lights projects for it, it seems that this was absolutely deliberate.
He then went on to say “Prague, do you know who you are tonight?” with the flag still folded in his hand, then he hesitated and smiled a bit and finally said “Let's go!” but it seemed like for a moment he was going to say something else. You can see that a bit here and here. Again, the little smile and the hesitation seem to us to suggest that he knew what was coming (and perhaps almost said something that would give it away more?). (Depending on the way he found out, he might also have known what we looked like, and he did definitely see us both and he interacted, but that may very well be a coincidence, which I'm going to choose to lean towards, but thought it worth mentioning.)
The project worked wonderfully, the flags were everywhere and I have no videos of my own because I was absolutely mindblown by how many flags there were. Harry looked so genuinely happy and pleased and you can see him dimpling and having fun in many moments which are just now surfacing, because we were all so focused on the project and on the flags being there and not many people filmed him. As you can see for example here, he also told us: “Put your flags up!” and encouraged us and acknowledged the project explicitly. After the first minute of Lights Up, he turned to the band and he smiled at them, and that smile showed everything, really:
gif by @kiwikiwiandkiwi (original post here)
Videos of this moment: x, x, x, x.
But he was so happy the entire time, you can see him quite overwhelmed in one moment as well, and also, as a bonus, he caught a sunflower and a cowboy hat, which he managed to catch onto the sunflower stem and was very entertained by it haha. (see here)
Most importantly, though, the project worked out wonderfully and there must have been thousands of flags in the venue, which seems absolutely unbelievable to me given how small our team initial was and how hard they were to get by, but you can see they were in every sector and section, on the pit there was a sea of rainbows and it was the same on the sides, and the “nosebleed” sectors, even the restricted view sectors had so many flags. It was really Louis level of rainbows and it created the environment we strove for - so many people told us they felt safe and happy and loved, including myself. It was incredible! The fans worked so hard to make this happen, he knew, he participated, he encouraged us, he loved it and he seemed almost as happy as I was that we made it!
Some of the videos of the project: a video where his smile and the flags in the pit are very visible, Liz's video , a compilation of the project from different povs, the entirety of Lights Up in Prague, another moment where the flags in the pit are especially visible , the flags on the big screen and Harry smiling so hard you can hear it, the LOTPrague instagram highlights collecting most of the videos , the project TikTok , final compilation on the project TikTok
