Tens of thousands expected to attend annual ‘Out! Raleigh Pride’ festival

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Thousands of people are expected to fill downtown Raleigh in rainbow colors this weekend for an annual celebration of pride for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies. It’s an occasion that’s focused on visibility, community, and equality.

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Event leaders with the LGBT Center of Raleigh said this event, called Out! Raleigh Pride, keeps growing. They are expecting at least 85,000 people to attend.

“This festival is hosted by the LGBT Center of Raleigh, and I think that is something that is important for the community to know. I know in a lot of other cities, it might be hosted by the city itself or some other municipality, but here, this is grassroots—this is us from the ground up,” said Neash Cameron, event coordinator with the LGBT Center of Raleigh.

Event organizers said around 80,000 people came out last year, and since then, they have gained more support and worked with more local partners in the community.

“This month was especially special where we had something going on just about every day. For the community, we had events for the youth, we had events for elders and all of the different intersectionalities within the community. We make a point to have some sort of event or program that allows them to feel safe and seen as well,” said Cameron.

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The celebration comes at a time when advocacy groups say visibility and support remain critical.

“There was actually an incident of a protester getting physical with one of the organizers for the Cary market a few weeks ago. We talked a lot about it, and we wanted to see how people can learn from this because people are like, ‘Oh, it’s Cary. It’s pride. It’s safe,’ but it’s something that we deal with all the time,” said Helicia Chang, operations manager with the LGBT Center of Raleigh.

Organizers said this year’s event will feature a full schedule, including a parade through Fayetteville Street, live music, local vendors, and community resources supporting LGBTQ+ residents across the Triangle. The festival will be on Fayetteville Street starting at 12 p.m. City officials said road closures will be in place throughout the day, and they encourage attendees to plan ahead, using public transportation when possible.

While Saturday is the main festival date, there are even more LGBT Center-organized pride events that will continue throughout the day on Sunday.

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