Kaylee Roberts, Senior Staff Writer

Downtown Greensboro will fill with rainbow flags, marching bands, and thousands of supporters on Saturday, Sept. 12, as the city celebrates the 20th anniversary of Greensboro Pride. For the first time in almost 30 years, this event brings back a full-scale Pride parade alongside its festival. 

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. along Elm Street, featuring community groups, floats, local businesses, and grand marshals who “embody the values of inclusion and equity.” After the parade, the festival will spread through the streets surrounding LeBauer Park from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with live entertainment on multiple stages, local vendors, community organizations, food and beverage offerings, and designated spaces for community engagement. Organizers say the area has expanded this year to cover a broader strip of downtown, allowing for more vendor space and additional entertainment areas. 

The event’s growth has been steady. Last year’s festival welcomed more than 85,000 attendees, nearly 300 vendors, and more than 50 performances in downtown Greensboro. Some event listings are expecting more than 100,000 attendees this year, with the festival expanding to welcome over 400 vendors. 

The event has come a long way from its beginnings. What is now Greensboro Pride started in 2006 as the Triad Pride Festival, drawing about 400 attendees and six vendors to what is now LeBauer Park. The festival moved to South Elm Street in 2015 as it outgrew its original footprint, pulling in an estimated 10,000 people that year. That is a fraction of the crowd expected this September. 

Behind those numbers is an entirely volunteer-run operation. Diamond Young, a junior at UNC Greensboro, worked Vendor Check-In at last year’s festival – one of dozens of roles that keep the event running. Her day started before the gates opened, putting down signs and gathering supplies to get the grounds ready. Once vendors began arriving, she helped them find parking, locate their assigned setup spots, and get their booths in order. 

“It was exhilarating to be able to help struggling vendors who were lost or needed help in such a stressful, heated environment,” Young said. 

The Greensboro Pride Parade & Festival is the annual headlining event for IMPAQT GSO, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is 100% volunteer operated. That structure means the majority of the event’s scale depends on people like Young showing up and volunteering to help with such a large event. She said that spirit was the most memorable part of her experience. 

“There was always great teamwork and communication throughout my whole time there,” Young said, “There was always someone willing to help.” 

For Young, the decision to volunteer was personal. She said she’s, “always been passionate about everything LGBTQIA+,” even before she came to identify with the community herself through discovering her asexuality. That connection is part of why Young signed up in the first place, and why she’s already planning to return this year. 

“It was such a fulfilling experience that I will be volunteering again this upcoming September,” Young said. 

Young’s plan to return this year reflects the kind of commitment the festival depends on to run smoothly, and it’s part of what has allowed the event to grow from a modest local gathering into IMPAQT GSO’s largest annual celebration of LGBTQ+ identity and connection across the Triad. 

The celebration will extend beyond the festival itself. Pride Week events leading up to Sept. 12 include a pageant, a kickoff dance party, and an official afterparty, giving the milestone anniversary a citywide presence that stretches across several days rather than a single afternoon. 

Organizers have also emphasized keeping the event accessible. The festival is free, family-friendly, and open to the public, with plenty of opportunities to meet and connect with others in the community. 

The event offers a chance to be part of something larger than a single day – a milestone two decades in the making, and, with this year’s returning parade, a new chapter for Greensboro Pride. Those interested in attending, volunteering, or learning more can find details at impaqtgso.org/pride.