Louisville Pride Festival Returns in September, Bigger & Better Than Ever!

The Louisville Pride Festival returns in September, and it is bigger than ever before! Instead of just one day, the Louisville Pride Festival now includes nine events throughout the month! Ticket prices and details are still being set for some events and will be available shortly on www.louprideky.org.

The Festivities begin September 2^nd with the Louisville Festival Pride Kick Off Game with Racing Louisville.

Show your Pride and cheer on Racing Louisville as they take on the Portland Thorns! The Fan Zone will open at 6:00 PM, stadium gates open at 6:30 PM, and the game kicks off at 7:30 PM. Tickets start just $19 with a portion of sales benefiting the Louisville Pride Foundation and the Louisville Youth Group. Special deals are available for anyone with a Louisville Pride Festival VIP Pass. Buy tickets to the Racing Louisville Pride Game here.

2023 will be the first year for The Louisville Pride Festival Queer Comedy Show at The Caravan on Wednesday, September 6^th.

The Queer Comedy Show is hosted by veteran comedian Keith McGill and features three amazing comics who are all members of the LGBTQ community: Vidalia Unwin, June Dempsey, and Reed Sedgwick. Doors open at 7:00 PM and the show begin at 7:30 PM. The event is for ages 18 and over and a valid ID is required. Tickets are just $15, with free admission for anyone with a Louisville Pride Festival VIP Pass. Buy tickets to the Queer Comedy Show here.

Thursday, September 7^th is the Louisville Pride Festival Pride and Pups Night with the Louisville Bats.

Cheer on the Bats against the St. Paul Saints. Gates open at 5:00 PM and the game begins at 6:35 PM. Tickets begin at $10 and anyone with a Louisville Pride Festival VIP Pass will get free admission and a Louisville Bats swag bag. Dog tickets for Pride and Pups are $3, with proceeds benefiting the Kentucky Humane Society. Visit Batsbaseball.com for more information. Buy tickets to Pride and Pups here.

The 2023 Louisville Pride Festival on Bardstown Road, presented by Ford/UAW and Derby City Prep Clinic will be Saturday, September 9^th.

The annual free street fair and concert remains the centerpiece of the expanding Louisville Pride Festival. This year will again feature 150 vendors, the Derby City Gaming VIP Lounge, the Zappos Family Area, the Wellness Zone, and performances on two stages. This year is hosted by Syimone, Leah Halston, Dusty Ray Bottoms, and May O’Nays and will feature performance from VOICES of Kentuckiana, John Austin Clark, Robbie Bartlett, members of the Louisville Orchestra, Shitfire, Siena Liggins, Bungalow Betty, and a special reunion performance with Carol Kraemer and Laura Shine, founding members of Louisville’s iconic lesbian band Yer Girlfriend. And with drag performers under threat across the country, Festival Mainstage finale will be The Over the Rainbow Drag Extravaganza.

“W

hen cynical politicians tried to outlaw drag this year, we promised to deliver the biggest and best damn drag show the Commonwealth of Kentucky has ever seen, right in the middle of Bardstown Road. And that’s exactly what we intend to do,” — Mike Slaton, LPF Executive Director Save

The Festival is free to attend and VIP Passes are available for purchase. Registration is still open for vendors and sponsors for the Festival, but spaces are expected to sell out.

The Festival will also feature the inaugural presentation of the Hurricane Summers Icon Award, newly created by the Louisville Pride Foundation Board of Directors.

The Louisville Pride Festival Cinema Showcase comes to Baxter Avenue Theaters on Saturday, September 16^th.

The Showcase will build on the legacy of the Louisville LGBT Film Festival. Film titles, screening times, and ticket prices will be released soon.

The third Louisville Pride Center Lou Name Clinic will be Saturday, September 23^rd.

The event is co-sponsored by Dinsmore & Shohl, the Lambda Law Caucus, and UofL Brandeis School of Law. Volunteers from these groups will be on-hand offering free legal assistance to Kentucky residents with preparing and filing name change petitions. Assistance with filing fees for participants is available thanks to support from donors. Registration is highly encouraged, but not required. The event will be held from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Louisville Pride Center at 1244 S 3^rd Street. More information on sign-ups and the event itself is coming in the near future.

Another new feature this year are four LGBTQ+ Mini-Conferences.

These are half-day events including workshops and networking opportunities to provide educational opportunities for LGBTQ people and allies, support leaders doing important work in the community, build and strengthen connections within and beyond the LGBTQ+ community, The conferences will be for Civic Leaders and Elected Officials (September 20), Mental Health Providers (September 22),  and LGBTQ Employee Affinity Groups and Non-Profits (September 28). All mini-conference will be held at the Louisville Pride center, and registration will open soon. The mini-conferences are beign produced with support from Mandala House and Queer Kentucky.

The 2023 Festival theme is There’s No Place Like Home.

“Now more than ever, we want to remind everyone that Louisville is home to many wonderful LGBTQ+ people. We are your friends, neighbors, family members, co-workers, and customers. We are proud to call Louisville home, we are proud to call Kentucky home, and no one can take that away from us. LGBTQ people contribute to this city and state, and we are part of what makes it a place to be proud to live,” said Louisville Pride Foundation executive director Mike Slaton.

Louisville Pride Festival VIP Passes

are on sale now at www.louprideky.org. Passes are $90 before August 20, and include free or discounted admission to festival evets, a Festival Survival Kit, and access to the Derby City VIP Lounge at the Louisville Pride Festival, including complimentary food and drink. The Festival is all ages, but the VIP Lounge is limited to guests 21 and over.

The Louisville Pride Festival is produced by the Louisville Pride Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose mission is to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and advance equity and representation for all people. The Foundation manages the Louisville Pride Center, which serves the LGBTQ+ community at 1244. South 3^rd Street.

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Thank you to our Presenting Sponsors

Ford Motor Company, United Auto Workers 862, Derby City Prep Clinic, GE Appliances, and Norton Healthcare. The beverage sponsor for the 21+ VIP bar is Tito’s Vodka.

We appreciate additional support from:

U of L Health, U of L School of Nursing, Zappos.com, Kroger, Derby City Gaming, Aetna Better Health of KY, PLAY Louisville, Republic Bank, the Asia Institute Crane House, the Louisville Youth Group, ADP, WellCare of Kentucky, Passport by Molina Healthcare, Ginger Wallace and Janet Holliday, Louisville City and Racing Louisville FC, Bourke Accounting, LLC, Dinsmore, Jefferson Community and Technical College, McKesson, Big Bar, Louisville Tourism, Caesars Southern Indiana, 502 Hemp, and Western Governors University.