Union County Pride Festival

Union County Pride, founded in 2022, holds an annual festival in Monroe. The 2026 festival on September 19 had marketplace zones, a kids zone, a food court, stage entertainment with DJs and performers, a silent auction and voter education.

Union County Pride, Inc. works to build a thriving LGBTQ community in Union County, North Carolina. Its founding president is Cristal Robinson, a civil rights and disability rights attorney who also co-chairs the SOGI Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association. The organization focuses on supporting youth and young adults of all sexual orientations and gender identities, and one of its current goals is to increase the number of GSA clubs in local high schools by paying start-up costs for schools that want a club but lack the funds.

The group also promotes local businesses and organizations that welcome everyone, encourages people to buy from them, and creates networking opportunities that build friendships and business relationships across the community. Along with the festival, it has hosted a conference and other events that businesses can sponsor, and it invites volunteers to help build the organization.

Festival features have included a Kids' Zone run by the Campaign for Southern Equality, attorneys and other professionals offering help, and an online silent auction. Past stage lineups have featured Charlotte aerial and ground performers Cirque du Cosplay, local rock and punk bands, Durham rapper Austin Royale, the queer folk-punk duo Boygirl Rising and pageant titleholder Jayla Serena Mitchell. The organization also collects photos and videos from past festivals for its archive.

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.

Union County Pride Festival has included festival, marketplace, kids zone, stage entertainment and silent auction.

The organizer has not announced dates for 2027 yet. In 2026 it was held September 19, 2026. It usually falls september.