‘Knoxville Is Gayer Than You Think’: A SoKno Pride Recap

Leslie Bateman·June 23, 2025

SoKno Pride, Sevier Avenue, June 2025

SoKno Pride lit up Sevier Avenue on Saturday like a glitter bomb in a dive bar. What began as a small grassroots gathering five years ago is now the city’s biggest Pride Month celebration, since Knox Pride’s festival and parade moved to October a handful of years back.

Folx and allies packed the street for drag shows, live music and more than 150 vendors (I haven’t seen an official count, but 2024 was 30,000+ and this year felt even bigger). The program also included morning yoga at Suttree Landing Park and a 5K fun run. Despite its growth, SoKno Pride still feels like a neighborhood block party, infused with South Knoxville’s idiosyncratic “just-over-here-doing-our-own-thing” vibe.

I’ve never lived in a big city, so sometimes I have to fact-check that our local things are actually as cool or impressive as they feel. Mid-afternoon, I found myself at a table at Alliance with a gay couple visiting from Denver, one of whom used to live here. I asked if SoKno Pride felt like a big deal, relatively speaking. They confirmed that while it’s not on the scale of Denver Pride, which draws half a million people, for a mid-sized city in the South …

“It’s unbelievable,” they said. “Knoxville is gayer than you think.”

The official event wrapped at 6 but the party didn’t. Around 1 a.m., I was one of at least 50 people queued up outside Club XYZ in Happy Holler for the late drag show. The place was at capacity so one-in, one-out. But singing along to “Pink Pony Club” with sweaty strangers all crammed together like a rainbow panini … 10/10, no notes.

While there are queer-friendly businesses all over Knoxville, Club XYZ—celebrating its 20th anniversary this year—is one of very few dedicated LGBTQIA+ spaces in town. (Which makes the closure of South Press at the end of this month all the more of a bummer.) Knoxville’s queer joy isn’t going anywhere, so let’s keep creating spaces in which to celebrate it. Check out Inside of Knoxville’s Pride Planner for more events throughout the month. SoKno Pride and Knox Pride are always great resources.

And finally: my amazingly talented friend Rachel Woods of Smoke Signal Photography (Facebook | Instagram | website) shared these stunning photos from the event.