Knoxville Pride Parade 2024

The Pride Parade stepped off on Friday night on lovely Gay Street. Rains hit just a few minutes before the start, but stopped in time for the event. Last year a similar shower left a rainbow behind that added a perfect touch to the proceedings. I didn’t see one this year. The parade, which coincides with Pride Fest, might be the only Pride Parade running along Gay Street in the county. Baltimore, whose street name was adopted for our own may do the same, but there can’t be many.

And, as always, Knoxville showed up. My photos are pointed toward the 600 block of Gay and crowds were decent there. Heather, who contributed two great photos to this article, staked her spot on the 100 block and said the crowds were larger there.

It’s always heartening to see the churches and businesses that join in the fun and show their support and this year was no different. Multiple denominations marched with affirming signs and many businesses were represented, from gay-owned and operated groups to traditionally conservative businesses like banks.

The City of Knoxville was represented with Mayor Kincannon waving and shaking hands with the crowd. I was surprised not to see more representatives of city government, like city council members. Of course, there was no presence of County Government officials. It would be nice if they were represented next year.

Similarly, the local Democratic Party came out in force, with local candidates Gloria Johnson and Jane George in the march. It seems by now there would be some presence of the local Republican Party or Republican officials. Is there a Log Cabin Republican group locally?

As always it was a joyous event and a celebration of living your best life and loving the way you want to love. It’s a great thing to wish for everyone.

I’ve included a few of my favorite photos here, but I’m dropping the full group below. On desktop or laptop computers they can be clicked and enlarged. I’m not so sure on smart phones.