October is LGBTQ History Month and has been the time for Knoxville’s largest Pride festival and parade for the past several years. While details for this year’s Knox Pride Fest have not been announced, organizations across Knoxville and East Tennessee are offering other ways to celebrate Pride this fall.
“A lot of us are volunteers, and we’re just driven by wanting to make Knoxville a more welcoming, inclusive place to live,” George Chamoun told Knox News.
“We care about Knoxville as a whole, not just a neighborhood of Knoxville,” added Chamoun, president of SoKno Pride, a nonprofit organization based in South Knoxville.
Pride events in Knoxville and East Tennessee this fall
October also includes National Coming Out Day (Oct. 11) and Spirit Day, an annual global anti-bullying campaign supporting LGBTQ
youth. November highlights transgender awareness, including Transgender Day of Remembrance (Nov. 20).
SoKno Pride is participating in the community Halloween event Spooky Streets (4-8 p.m. Oct. 23) along Sevier Avenue.
Other upcoming pride-related events include:
- Pride mass | 6 p.m. Oct. 9 | 6900 Kingston Pike (Messiah Lutheran Church)
- Cleveland Pride | 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 10 | 445 Church St., Cleveland (Cleveland Pride)
- Secret City Pride | Noon-4 p.m. Oct. 11 | 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge (Unitarian Universalist Church)
- Chattanooga Pride festival and parade | 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Oct. 17 | 201 Riverfront Parkway, Chattanooga (Chattanooga Pride)
- 5th Annual Trunk R’ Treat | 3:30-6 p.m. Oct. 18 | Karns Pizza Hoss (WeKnoNow)
- Out After Dark: Masquerade | 7 p.m. Oct. 24 | Mabry-Hazen House (Appalachian Equality Chorus)
- Drop Dead Halloween Drag Show | 9 p.m. Oct. 31 | 2020 Barber St. (Hi-Wire Brewing)
- Transgender Day of Remembrance walk and vigil | 7 p.m. Nov. 19 | Krutch Park (Pride Interfaith Knox)
Building community and inclusivity in Knoxville
SoKno Pride hosts its annual event in June, but the organization is intentionally expanding its programming throughout the year and working to collaborate with other organizations.
“A Pride event is a good time; it's fun. But, for me, it’s something deeper than that. It's about making sure that we are building a community,” Chamoun said.
Chamoun said losing a queer-owned space such as Club XYZ – which closed in June – can be a significant blow to the community. At the same time, he also has noticed an increasing number of inclusive local businesses that employ LGBTQ+ people and offer welcoming environments.
“There's still value in having an LGBT bar, but I'm finding more and more with the younger folks, they're going out to places like Hi-Wire and Fly by Night and Pink Cactus,” he noted. “I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing. I see that people are becoming more integrated into the community rather than us being kind of siloed off.”
Chamoun said he wants Knoxville to be a place where queer people want to move to rather than move away from. SoKno Pride is seeking public feedback as it develops ways to serve people beyond its annual June festival.
“We want to give those folks a feeling like they belong, that they're not alone, they never have been … that there's people here that have walked your shoes and we welcome you with open arms whenever you want to come out and join us,” he said.
Why does Knoxville celebrate Pride in October?
Knox Pride Fest has been held in October instead of Pride Month in June since 2022 for practical and strategic reasons:
- It’s cooler than hosting in the summer.
- October dates allow University of Tennessee at Knoxville students to join.
- October coincides with LGBTQ History Month and National Coming Out Day
- It doesn’t compete with other June Pride events, such as SoKno Pride in South Knoxville.
The Knox Pride Community and Resource Center had not released any details regarding a 2026 festival or parade as of Oct. 8. Knox News contacted the organization for information about this year’s plans.
Last year’s festivities were quickly revamped after the original planned events were canceled for insurance reasons, Knox News reported.
Chamoun said Pride gatherings remain necessary for people seeking support, especially those navigating difficult coming-out experiences.
“If there reaches a day when that kind of stuff doesn't happen anymore, where coming out is no longer a challenge … then we may not need a Pride event anymore, but we're not there yet,” Chamoun said. “There's still a lot of work ahead of us.”
“We want to let people know that on the other side of that closet door, they're going to find friends, they're going to find chosen family, they're going to find a community that loves them,” he continued.
Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville organizations keep Pride celebrations going this fall
