ATL Pride is Next Month: Here’s What to Expect

After two long years, ATL Pride is finally back and ready for newcomers and returners to enjoy the festivities. The festival will have performances, food and plentiful activities for all ages. 

 ATL Pride is one of the largest LGBTQ festivals in the country and it is the oldest LGBTQ organization in Georgia.

Steven Igarashi-Ball is the Director of Equity and Engagement for the ATL Pride Committee. His role is to ensure everyone under the LGBTQ+ umbrella feels welcome, seen and heard in their program and in the festival and parade. 

“We have a family fun zone, so it’s a family friendly event,” said Igarashi-Ball. “There’ll be things like face painting, we’ll have inflatables, bounce houses, games for kids to play.”

There will be spaces for seniors that they refer to as “Gray Pride” where older LGBTQ members can relate with others in their age range. Other activities include drag queen story hour, concerts, drag shows, cultural displays, performances from theaters, international and upcoming musicians and choruses, the parade, a marketplace for vendors and art displays. The line-up of artists performing will be released sometime in the next week on ATL Pride’s website. 

“We try to cater to the full community,” said Igarashi-Ball.  “It’s a broad and diverse community so I think our festival reflects that. 

 “We always try to bring a diversity of performers who are both well-known and up and coming,” continued Igarashi-Ball. “I think that we’ll deliver on that again this year.” 

The parade will begin at noon on Sunday, Oct. 9 at Piedmont Park and will last roughly three hours. Registering for a float in the parade is no longer available due to the high volume of applicants but guests are welcome to watch the parade from the sidelines. 

Pride events will be occurring throughout the week of ATL Pride and the committee will inform potential partygoers of ATL Pride events via their website. There will also be events thrown by bars and clubs outside of the committee for partygoers. 

The festival will be between Oct. 8-9 at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, and the hours are 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on both days.

ATL Pride is also hosting an official kickoff party. It will be held at the Atlanta Contemporary and will be headlined by RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Silky Nutmeg Ganache. Attendees can expect performances from drag queens and DJ’s. The event occurs on Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. for VIP tickets and 7:30 p.m. for general admission. Tickets are on sale for this on ATL Pride’s website and will stop selling at midnight on Oct. 1.

“We are as excited for the festival to return to in-person as they are,” said Igarashi-Ball. “We are just really looking forward to being able to celebrate in person, to see old friends and supporters of the community as well as to make new friends and hopefully to welcome some people who never had the opportunity to experience Atlanta Pride.”