Blue Ridge Pride Festival

Blue Ridge Pride is an Asheville nonprofit whose annual festival at Pack Square Park is billed as the largest single-day festival in downtown Asheville. The 2026 festival is on Saturday, September 26 from noon to 6 p.m. with more than 200 booths and a full day of entertainment, surrounded by a week of Pride events.

Blue Ridge Pride is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has served the LGBTQIA2S+ community of Western North Carolina since 2009. Its programs reach 22 counties and run year-round, well beyond the festival itself.

That year-round work includes programming for LGBTQ+ elders 55 and older, an oral history project that records the stories of queer elders, research on health equity in the region, inclusivity training for businesses and organizations, efforts to connect queer-owned and affirming businesses, and work to promote safe spaces for LGBTQ+ children and foster parents. The Quilt, its free online Pride center, collects mental health support, community groups and affirming providers, and the group has offered free therapy through a program called Quilt Care. It also keeps a regional community calendar where anyone can submit events.

At the festival, a main stage runs entertainment through the day while families move among the booths in Pack Square Park. Organizers say the need for more security and a decision to make the event greener have raised costs, so the festival depends on sponsors, donations, store sales and volunteers. The oral history project has also produced a short video on the history of Pride in Asheville and why it is held in September.

Pride events celebrate LGBTQ+ people and mark the Stonewall uprising of June 1969. Most combine a parade or march with a festival of performers, community groups, vendors and food.

Blue Ridge Pride Festival has included festival, pride week, performances and vendors.

The next edition is September 26, 2026. It usually falls last Saturday of September.