ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — June may be Pride Month, but Asheville Pride festivals have been traditionally held in the fall. That is, until this summer.
June 26-28, 2026 marks the debut of AVL Stonewall Fest, a new Pride Month festival.
Stonewall Fest is a return to a tradition Asheville has not observed in nearly 30 years. Since 2009, Blue Ridge Pride has held its annual Asheville Pride celebration in the autumn. Before that, the festival was held in June, but only twice: June 13, 1992 and June 6, 1998, the years the now-defunct North Carolina Pride festival was hosted by the city.
What is AVL Stonewall Fest?
AVL Stonewall Fest will be held June 26-28 in downtown Asheville. The main event will be an exuberant, musical celebration from 2-8 p.m., Saturday, June 27 at Asheville Yards, featuring bands, DJs, drag shows, comedians and more. The event will be free and open to all ages.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, gay bars across town will open their doors for more festivities.
Find the full schedule at www.avlstonewallfest.org.
Honoring Stonewall by spotlighting locals
Stonewall Fest is the brainchild of Butch Thompson, a leader in the local LGBTQ+ community and the founder of butchOUT, a nonprofit that supports the LGBTQ+ people in Asheville through events and fundraisers all year long.
Thompson emphasized that Stonewall Fest is not a replacement for Blue Ridge Pride. Instead, the organizer hopes the festival will create a specific space for LGBTQ+ Ashevillians.
“This festival is for the Asheville local community. It’s not a regional. Now, of course, we welcome everybody that wants to come, but it’s really focused on the local community. Local vendors, local sponsors, local performers, local bands, all that kind of stuff,” Thompson explained. “Then the other thing is, why not have another Pride in June? One of the business owners said, ‘Why not have a Pride festival every fâ month,’ you know?”
Stonewall Fest is organized around the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, the June 28, 1969 protest that marked a major turning point in the LGBTQ+ movement.
“The Stonewall riots were the beginning of the modern-day gay liberation movement. It catapulted Pride throughout the country, and now, throughout the world,” Thompson said. “I really feel that it’s important that we not only honor our history, but that we reflect on that and celebrate those people that helped to start us on this path.”
Finding ‘commUNITY’ in Pride
For Thompson, celebrating Pride means bringing people together.
“I believe community is the key to everything. When I write community, I write it out c-o-m-m, capital U-N-I-T-Y, because it’s all about that unity of things,” Thompson said.
Stonewall Fest will unite several different LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, organizations and businesses together, a massive undertaking for the festival founder. However, Thompson said all the work is worth it for the end result: visibility.
“It just reminds me again of how beautiful this community is and how it comes together when they recognize an opportunity to increase visibility,” Thompson said. “I’m a big proponent of ‘visibility is the key to acceptance.'”
Outside of the Pride Month festival, butchOUT will continue to organize smaller LGBTQ+ events. One of Thompson’s favorites is the Sunday Funday Tea Dance, a monthly disco party at Banks Ave. Bar that donates its proceeds directly to local nonprofits.
“We have a good group of core people, and then we’re constantly seeing new people that have moved to town and heard about it through something,” Thompson said. “Join us!”
For more information about butchOUT, visit www.butchout.org/home.
For more information about AVL Stonewall Fest, visit www.avlstonewallfest.org.
