There’s much happening around town to celebrate Pride Month. We’ve rounded up local celebrations and related events below.
But first, I want to take a moment to share a warm farewell and thank-you to South Press Café. The Chapman Highway coffee shop, an anchor for the city’s LGBTQIA+ community, announced on social media on June 1 that it will be closing at the end of the month.
“We feel like five years is a good run,” wrote owner and founder Joslynn Fish. “I am so proud of the lives we’ve changed for the better. It has truly been a gift to be able to hold the space for you. South Press is a place where everyone belongs.”
Always bright and friendly, with a pretty mean BLT (or LGBT, if you want it with guacamole), South Press has been one of my favorite “home offices away from my home office.” Like many who have shared outpourings of support this week, I’m sad to see it go but grateful for the role it played in facilitating connections and fostering resources.
Here’s wishing Joslynn the best in her future endeavors. In the meantime, she noted, “We have the next 29 days to make memories together, make art, laugh and strengthen the ties that bind … We want to have an awesome Pride Month with you!” The space is hosting several fundraiser events and has invited the community in for “one last family supper” on Sunday, June 29.
Pride Month kicked off June 1 with Pride Night at Zoo Knoxville, Knox Pride’s largest fundraiser of the year. The organization’s biggest events – the Pride Parade on Gay Street and Pride Fest at World’s Fair Park – take place later this year, on Oct. 3-4.
This month’s headliner events include the 5th Annual SoKno Pride, taking place June 21 on Sevier Avenue from noon to 6 p.m. Details are to be announced, but it’s always a fun time.
The Tennessee Theatre’s Pride Variety Show on June 8 will feature a little bit of everything – singers, poets, dancers, musicians, comedians, drag performances – in a free, community-centered event. Also downtown, the 8th Annual Pride Bar Crawl is on June 28, with multiple participating locations and they’re expecting 250+ folx this year.
I don’t doubt that the event calendar below is incomplete – like I said, there’s a lot going on, but that’s a good thing! Please shoot me a quick email (lesliewbateman@gmail.com) or leave a comment if there’s an event I missed and I’ll add it. Feel free to bookmark this page for your Pride Month planning needs.
Happy Pride, y’all!
Friday, June 6:
- Beardsley Farm & Knox Pride Present: Garden Art Gala, Beardsley Farm, FREE, 5-7pm with after party at South Press Café
- Open Mic Drop, South Press Café, 7:30pm
- Ace Matthews, Club XYZ, 21+, showtimes 11:30pm/1am
Saturday, June 7:
- Pride at Orange Theory, Bearden location, all day
- SoKno Pride Benefit Drag Show Starring Amanda Tori Meating of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Hi-Wire Brewing Company, 18+, $30, 9pm – 1am
Sunday, June 8:
- Pride Variety Show, Tennessee Theatre, 18+, FREE, 7pm
Tuesday, June 10:
- Tri-Pride Takeover, South Press Café, $10, 6-9pm
Friday, June 13:
- SoKno Pride Drag Show Fundraiser hosted by Morphine Drip, Barrelhouse, $10, 8-11pm
- Schitt’s Creek Trivia, Hi-Wire Brewing, FREE, 7pm
Saturday, June 14:
- Pride Pet Pictures SoKno Pride Fundraiser, $100/session, Barrelhouse, 12-3pm
- Last Dance Drag Show, South Press Café, 6-7pm
- Gypsy Queens: Yard Sale Drag Bingo, Barrelhouse, $15, 8-10pm
Tuesday, June 17:
- Star Search, South Press Café, 6 p.m.
Friday, June 20:
- Pride Silent Disco, Hi-Wire Brewing Company, 18+, $10-$15, 7:30-11:30pm
- Knox Pride Presents Bingo Night, South Press Café, $20, 6:30pm
Saturday, June 21:
- 5th Annual SoKno Pride, Sevier Avenue, FREE, 12-6 pm
- Club XYZ Pride 2025: The Queenz of Knoxville, Club XYZ, 21+, showtimes 11:30pm/1am
Monday, June 23:
- 3rd Annual Big Gay Honkey Tonk Ho Down to Benefit Positively Living, Brother Wolf, 9pm
Saturday, June 28:
- 3rd Annual West Knox Pride, Hey Bear Cafe (Middlebrook Pike location), noon-5pm
- Neurodivergent Pride, South Press Café, 4-8pm
- 8th Annual Pride Bar Crawl, various downtown locations, 21+, $20-$26, 4pm-midnight
- Pride Karaoke, Hi-Wire Brewing, 18+, FREE, 9-11:30pm
Sunday, June 29:
- Drag Brunch, Pour Knoxville, noon
- The Last Supper, South Press Café, 6 p.m.
- Knox Pride Presents Mx Knox Pride 365! Pageant 2025, CORE Knoxville, 8pm
Recurring:
- Karaoke Night, every Wednesday at South Press Café, 6pm
- Club XYZ Karaoke, every Sunday and Wednesday, FREE, 21+, 10pm
- The Divaz & Kingz Thursdayz!, every Thursday at Club XYZ, 21+, FREE, showtimes 11:30pm/1am