It’s nearing the end of Pride Month, but this weekend in Nashville, there’s the annual parade and music festival, plus dozens of other shows and events across the city.
More: Celebrating Nashville’s LGBTQ+ community, past and present
These celebrations come, though, as tensions rise over being LGBTQ+ and proud in conservative-led states like Tennessee.
In modern times, Pride has become a happy time of rainbows and glitter and dancing and drinking, but the history that led to the celebration is dark. And shadows still linger for the queer community. As NPR recently reported, far right groups are shifting focus to LGBTQ events nationwide and, here in Tennessee, legislation has increasingly targeted members of the community.
You can catch glimpses of that in between the lines of the many Pride parties happening this week in Nashville. In the descriptions, you’ll see proceeds benefitting groups like the Trevor Project, PFLAG Nashville, Just Us at the Oasis Center, the Tennessee Equality Project and more. A lot of these organizations’ goals are to continue the fight for LGBTQ rights.
Below, WPLN News has compiled a “Pride Guide” for the nearly 40 events in the city now through the end of Pride month.
Some of the events are outside, so be prepared for afternoon temperatures in the mid to upper 90s all weekend.
Did we miss a Pride event in the area? Email us.
Wednesday, June 22
Shoes Off presents: API Pride Showcase — 7 p.m.
Shoes Off Music Booking Agency, an organization dedicated to booking Asian and Pacific Islander artists in Nashville, is hosting a showcase to celebrate Pride Month this year at Vinyl Tap. Gay, theater-jazz-pop artist Ian DePriest will headline and host the celebration. Bisexual songwriter Julia Cannon and nonbinary, 1975-esque pop artist TONIE. Will be opening the night. While the event is free, a $10 donation is encouraged to support the artists.
Pride Kick-Off Trivia with Tracy – Golden Girls — 8 p.m.
Tracey Ottomey is hosting a Pride kickoff Golden Girls trivia. For those who arrive early, there’s also $2 Smirnoffs for Humpday Happy Hour from 3-8 p.m., too.
Thursday, June 23
Nashville Pride Weekend Happy Hour — 5 p.m.
City Tap House’s rooftop will be hosting a happy hour filled with prizes, giveaways and drink specials. The events will go until 9 p.m. and is sponsored by Jack Daniels, Crystal Head Vodka and Deep Eddy Vodka.
Zach Noe Towers Headlines Zanies — 6 p.m.
Kicking off his Pride show tour in Nashville is the LA-based comedian, actor and writer Zach Noe Towers. The host of the E! series Nightly Pop and Dating #NoFilter will be headline an 18+ show at Zanies Comedy Club. Tickets are $20.
Latte Art Throwdown — 6 p.m.
On top of the Nashville Pride Coffee Crawl, caffeine lovers can also enjoy East Nashville’s Frothy Monkey latte art competition. Attendees can sign up at 6 p.m. and the first pour begins at 6:30 p.m. There will also be a live DJ. While the event is free to attend, customers can buy drinks and food and the proceeds will benefit the Tennessee Equality Project, which advocates for the equal rights of LGBT people.
Nashville Sounds Pride Night — 7 p.m.
For those who want to hit the diamond this week. The next Nashville Sounds game against Atlanta’s Gwinnett Stripers. The gates open at 6:05 p.m. $5 of every ticket will be donated to Nashville Launch Pad, a non-profit dedicated to creating safe spaces for LGBT youth.
Bearded Iris PRIDE! Pre-Party — 8 p.m.
Before the big festivities get to town on Friday and Saturday, Bearded Iris will be throwing a pre-party at the Sylvan Supply taproom. DJ Dame Luz will provide the music and artist Ellie Caudill will bring the limited-edition fanny packs. Attendees can enjoy a specialty cask of Witbier brewed with fresh peaches. A portion of the day’s proceeds will benefit the Oasis Center, which offers programs to help young people find safety, belonging, empowerment and generosity.
Mother’s Ruin Presents Tropic Tango — 8 p.m.
Mother’s Ruin presents a Pride Dance Party that will go on until 1 a.m. A night of cocktails and dancing with beats provided by Guy Fell and a drag performance by Vivica Steele awaits. The 21+ event will have raffles throughout the night with a portion of the proceeds going toward Launch Pad.
Thirty Plus One presents Rainbow Road — 9 p.m.
Kick off Pride weekend in Nashville at Rainbow Road, happening at Play Dance Bar in Midtown. It’ll be a night filled with DJs Deniz Koyu, Seizure and Jane Dupree on a bright dance floor. Tickets are available online beforehand and at the door the night of the event.
Rudy’s PRIDE Celebration — 10 p.m.
Celebrate Pride Month in style with live jazz, drag and craft cocktails. Join Rudy’s Jazz Room in honoring the LGBT community with a cast of musicians performing music by artists such as Billie Holiday, Cole Porter, Bessie Smith, Josephine Baker, Billy Strayhorn and more. The evening will also feature drag performances by Veronika Electronika and Mya Campbell Cassadine. Tickets are $20 and 10% of all ticket sales will also be donated to Nashville Launch Pad.
Friday, June 24
Pride Weekend at Acme — 11 a.m.
This whole weekend the live music venue in downtown Acme Feed & Seed is celebrating the LGBT community with live music and drink specials.
Yay Yay’s Pride Brunch — 11 a.m.
Start Nashville’s Pride weekend with a full stomach at Yay Yay’s. The family-style brunch menu curated by Chef Charlotte Miller will also offer unlimited Uncle Nearest mimosas. General admission is $50.
Jackie Shane Pride Celebration — 3 p.m.
An important part of Pride Month is to honor trailblazers. The Jefferson Street Sound Museum is doing just that with its celebration of the life of Jackie Shane, the first Black transgender woman of soul music and a North Nashville native. Join the museum’s day-long tribute to Shane with live music, food trucks, dancing, a community mural, tote making, merch, affirmation stations and a photobooth. The event is free and will go until 10 p.m.
Beautiful Strength Pride Kickoff — 6 p.m.
Atticus, the big pink bus owned by BEAUTIFUL STRENGTH — a non-profit celebrating the human spirit through conversation and photography — will be parked in front of Sid Gold’s. The piano and karaoke bar is also offering a signature “True Colors” cocktail. $2 of every sale of the cocktail will go toward BEAUTIFUL STRENGTH. The neighboring stores Sapphire & Sage and A Shop of Things will have specials too.
Pride Flow with David Owen — 6 p.m.
The evening includes an all-level 60-minute vinyasa flow workout that will then segue into a social with a complimentary drink with the $20 ticket. 50% of the proceeds will be donated to The Trevor Project, a non-profit that provides resources to LGBT youth.
Pride Game Night — 6:30 p.m.
Sober folks can enjoy this night of snacks, fellowship and games for free. The gathering hosted by The Table — an organization that promotes spiritual well-being for LGBTQ groups — will take place in the Assembly Hall until 9:30 p.m.
Britney vs. Gaga Pop Divas Dance Party — 8 p.m.
Are you part of the Britney Army or are you a Little Monster? Choose to stand with your favorite pop icon or play both fields at Assembly Food Hall’s Skydeck in the heart of Broadway. A live DJ battle featuring music by the two artists is the main attraction for the 18+ event, but food and drinks from the more than 30 restaurants and bars is an added bonus. The event is free, but seating is limited.
ATHENA — 9 p.m.
Music City PrEP Clinic and Studio615 will be hosting ATHENA this year. The goal of the annual event is to bring a premium experience to make Nashville a travel destination for the LGBT community. Joe Gauthreaux and DJ A-ron will provide the music all the way until 3 a.m. Colton Watson, Al Gregory, Toby Sturgill and Thomas Malone will be the hosts throughout the night.
Saturday, June 25
Skydeck Fitness Series and Pride Parade Viewing Party — 9 a.m.
Without a doubt, Broadway will be jampacked with parade goers this Saturday. To start the day with a workout and have an opportunity to watch the parade from above, join Skydeck for a high-intensity workout with trainers from BOOTHCAMP and stay for the Pride Parade viewing party. The $40 tickets include entry to the beat-based workout, pride-themed photo ops and airbrush body paint. Attendees need to bring a yoga mat and small towel. Water will be provided, and outside food or drinks are prohibited.
Nashville Pride Parade — 10 a.m.
Nashville’s Pride Parade will cover Broadway in balloons, banners and floats to celebrate LGBT communities. The event will kick off at the intersection of Broadway and 8th Avenue and will go down to 2nd avenue. The parade is free to attend and there will be rideshare options available in Demonbreun Street, Rosa L. Parks Boulevard and Commerce Street. Country music singer TJ Osborne, actor Leslie Jordan, entrepreneur Greg Cason and activist Alberta Hardison will lead the parade as the grand marshals.
Nashville Pride Festival — 11 a.m.
An hour after the parade is set to begin on Broadway, the two-day festival will take over the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park. During the two days, there will be community art stations, a youth area presented by the Oasis Center, a kids and family zone, a vendor market and more than 250 acts. Saturday’s musical performances starting at 12:30 p.m. include country music duo The Kentucky Gentlemen, rapper Daisha McBride, Jackie Faye, DJ Dave Audé, rock band Bully, Nashville Drag EXTRAvaganza and Walk The Moon. There will be a grand marshal and Equality Award presentation at the Equality Stage after 1 p.m. There will be three drag performances throughout the day at the Stonewall Stage. Writers Rounds will dominate the Rainbow Stage from noon until 6:30 p.m. with Kate Yeager, Ahli, Sarah Cait, Emily Kate Stevens, Jessica Rose, Evan James Smith, Autumn Nicholas, Sonia Leigh, Indica Girlz, Emily Blue, Harper Grace, Twinnie, Brady Riley, Lexy Dunn and Purser.
Pride Weekend at Acme — 11 a.m.
This whole weekend the live music venue in downtown Acme Feed & Seed is celebrating the LGBT community with live music and drink specials.
Glow Party with DJ Cisco — 8 p.m.
The Pride festivities continue on the Skydeck. Go to the rooftop to party with DJ Cisco. Before the glow in the dark performance, attendees can stop to get glow airbrush body paint. There will also be specialty handcrafted cocktails. The event is free.
Pride After Party Throwdown — 8 p.m.
Drag kings and queens will take over Twin Kegs II’s patio Saturday night. The event is open to people of all ages and entry is $5. Drag king Trey Alize is hosting the event, and there will be appearances from artists Will Ryder, Chey Boi, Jayden Licious, D-Luv Saviyon, Brenda Newport, Ken Dartanyan, Taniah Dickerson and Brandon Young.
Be the Rainbow Nashville Pride Afterparty Drag Show — 9 p.m.
The Pride Weekend late-night Drag Show benefiting Nashville Pride will also be held at City Winery Nashville. Enjoy an elevated dining experience with live drag queen performers from Britney Banks, Vidalia Anne Gentry, Justine Van de Blair, Cya Inhale, Arsyn and Cordelia Facade. Tickets range from $25 to $50, but they don’t include food or drinks. There will be a special menu and a full bar, including crowd favorite brunch cocktails. Tipping performers is encouraged.
Queer Dance Party X Pride — 9 p.m.
Besides the annual Pride Month festivities, Nashville has another reason to celebrate. This year marks the 10th anniversary of QDP. The organization seeks to create safe spaces for the LGBT community to enjoy nights out in Nashville. Although the party usually takes place on the third Friday of every month at The Basement East, for the special occasion the festivities will move to the Brooklyn Bowl. The birthday extravaganza will be full of cake, cava, drag, bowling and more. The party starts at 9 p.m., but doors open early at 6 p.m. Tickets are $20 for the 18+ event.
Sunday, June 26
Nashville Pride Festival — 11 a.m.
Besides the activities available on both days mentioned previously, Sunday will offer another day filled with music, drag performances and writers rounds. The Stonewall Stage will feature drag performances at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. The Equality Stage will have performances from noon until 7 p.m. from artists such as Mike Maimone, Gina Venier, Bantug, Siena Liggins, Jaime Wyatt, Michaela Jaé, VINCINT and Tanya Tucker. The Rainbow Stage will feature Brody Ray, Emily Davis, Carmen Dianne, Spencer Jordan, John Chandler, Kimmie Devereux, Rosemary Joaquin, Jett Holden, Charlie Brennan, Gia Woods, Janna Jamison and COLEMAN.X.
Pride Weekend at Acme — 11 a.m.
This whole weekend the live music venue in downtown Acme Feed & Seed is celebrating the LGBT community with live music and drink specials.
Fantasea — 12 p.m.
The Fantasea Pride Pool Party at Dive Motel in East Nashville will be hosted by Kali Fuchis and cast members Sin Clair, Coqueta and Trauma Queen with a DJ set from Dame Luz. $15 pool passes are available day of show.
Pride Popsicles with East Nashville Queer Families — 4 p.m.
East Nashville Queer Parents is having a popsicle party at the playground in Shelby Park. It’s the group’s first in-person meetup, since they formed right before the March 3, 2020 tornado and the pandemic.
Sweet Tea Dance: The Official Closing Party of Nashville Pride — 6 p.m.
Although The Basement East is not hosting QDP this week, the live venue is in charge of the city’s official closing party. Party until almost midnight at the event sponsored by Deep Eddy Vodka. Tickets are $10.
Nashville Pride Official After Party at The Pool Club — 8 p.m.
Gia Woods and special guests will put an end to Nashville’s Pride Weekend at The Pool Club in the Virgin Hotel. Enjoy the live music and cool down by the pool.
The Rocky HorrorPride Show — 8:45 p.m.
Join Little Morals for a live Rocky Horror Picture Show experience in the Watkins Park neighborhood. Expect yelling profanity at a movie screen, throwing items at fellow humans, dancing in the aisles, debauchery, scantily clad actors and much more to thrill you, chill you and fulfill you. Due to the mature nature of this performance, audience members under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. And for the safety of all patrons, proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test (within 72 hours) is required.
Monday, June 27
City Winery Nashville presents ALOK with morgxn — 8 p.m.
Nashville’s City Winery live venue and restaurant is hosting a show by author performance artist Alok Vaid-Menon. The internationally acclaimed nonbinary artist’s work explores themes of trauma, belonging and the human condition. They have also appeared in the Netflix docu-series “Getting Curious” with Jonathan Van Ness, HBO’s late-night sketch series “Random Acts of Flyness” and the documentary “The Trans List.” Accompanying ALOK is Nashville’s indie pop-singer Morgxn. Tickets for the show range from $30 to $45.
Thursday, June 30
Jackalope Pride Run — 6 p.m.
Join Jackalope Brewing Company, Cumberland Transit, HOKA and Jogalope at The Ranch taproom in Wedgewood-Houston on Thursday, June 30 for a group Run/Walk to celebrate Pride month — and raise awareness and money for the Just Us program at the Oasis Center. Also, during the entire month of June, 20% of Lovebird draft sales will go to support Just Us.
Month-long
Led by Matryoshka Coffee, this Pride-themed community coffee crawl features 17 local shops (some with multiple locations) that have added a special drink to their menus for at least June 12-25. Many of those listed below are donating some of the proceeds to local LGBTQ+ organizations (and check the interactive map for each shop’s hours).
- Matryoshka Coffee: The Elio — an iced latte with peach-flavored cold foam made with The Peach Truck peaches and topped with peachy-pink, shimmery sugar and edible stars. There are both vegan and decaf versions available. $1 from each drink will be donated to Just Us at the Oasis Center, a local Nashville LGBTQ+ youth organization, and oat milk company Oatly will be matching Matryoshka’s donation.
- Retrograde: The Space Cowboy — a meyer lemon and peach sparkling oolong tea
- Ugly Mugs: As I Yam — a vanilla, coconut and bright purple ube latte. A portion of the proceeds from the drink and Ugly Mugs’ rainbow trucker hats will go to PFLAG Nashville for LGBTQ+ youth in the community. Oatly will be matching all of Ugly Mugs’ donations.
- Sump: The Leather Daddy — a cold brew-based drink laced with star anise, black tea, lemon and topped with cinnamon. $1 from each drink will be donated to the Tennessee Equality Project.
- Crema Coffee Roasters: Ella Gant Tonic — a matcha tonic sweetened with fresh peach syrup, rimmed with crushed lemon candy and finished with a colorful cocktail umbrella. Crema will also have a small amount of limited edition Pride-themed shop stickers available for free.
- 8th & Roast: Rubyfruit Jungle — a latte made with Fruity Pebbles steeped oat milk, roasted orange simple syrup and topped with sweetened cold foam
- Frothy Monkey: Dinah Shore Weekend — a drink made with mango, cayenne and espresso topped with coconut cream cold foam and a dash of edible gold glitter. $2 from each drink will be donated to the Tennessee Equality Project, and Oatly will be matching Frothy Monkey’s donation.
- Bongo Java: Just Peachy — an iced tea with fresh lemonade, peach simple syrup and a splash of grenadine topped with oat milk cold foam and a peach ring garnish. Bongo is also selling Pride shirts, which it will donate 100% of the proceeds of to Nashville Launchpad — a local non-profit providing safer sleeping shelters to young people 18-24 experiencing homelessness (open and affirming to LGBTQ+ youth).
- Three Brothers Coffee: The Circus Tent — a color bomb mocha cubano. $1 from each drink will be donated to ROC Music City, an organization dedicated to achieving economic stability and thriving futures for members of the LGBTQ+ community, women and people of color in Nashville’s restaurant industry. Oatly will be matching Three Brothers’ donation.
- Barista Parlor – Hillsboro Village: The Cherry Bomb — a cherry lemonade topped with edible gold glitter
- Weak Coffee: Everyone’s Invited — a macadamia milk blue matcha latte with pineapple topped with strawberry dust. $1 from each drink will go to Just Us and their efforts to help LGBTQ+ youth in Nashville.
- Flora + Fauna: Paradise 54 — a shaken espresso with apricot, orange, floral tea and beet syrup
- Steadfast Coffee: The Eros — a blueberry lavender latte with oat milk
- Anchorhead Coffee: Hey Bae — a hazelnut ube latte
- Dose: The L Word — a double shot of espresso and a mix of lavender honey and vanilla, topped with tonic and served in an iced cup
- Moonshot: Rainbow Cereal Milk Latte — dairy-free nostalgia made with oat milk
- Elixr Coffee
Ride with Pride on The Big Drag Bus
Ride with Pride on The Big Drag Bus this month. The party bus is offering 10% off any ride in June (excluding Saturdays) using code PRIDE22 to take the one-of-a-kind 90-minute Downtown Nashville tour with local drag entertainers.
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