Louisville Pride Foundation announces theme, date for this year's Pride Festival

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Louisville Pride Foundation has announced a date, theme and list of events for this year's annual Pride Festival.

Pride Fest will be held Sept. 9 this year on Bardstown Road with the theme "There's No Place Like Home."

This year's theme builds on the 2022 festival theme, "Welcome Home," which organizers said helped celebrate the return of the festival and the opening of the Louisville Pride Center.

"We wanted to build on the idea of 'home' that resonated so much with people last year, and we chose this theme because it speaks to how your chosen family can keep you safe no matter how dark the storm looks outside," Mike Slaton, executive director of the Louisville Pride Foundation, said in a news release Thursday. "It's also an affirmation and a statement of resistance. This is our home. And no matter what unconstitutional laws come out of Frankfort, no one can take it away from us."

The festival will include 150 vendors, music, wellness, and family zones, as well as a drag show on the main stage.

New this year is an extension of the festival to become a multi-day event. Organizers are planning Pride Nights with Racing Louisville FC and the Louisville Bats, as well as a comedy show and a film series. There are also plans in the works for "mini-conferences" for mental health providers, faith leaders, employee resource groups and nonprofit board members, organizers said in a news release.

It's free to attend and open to everyone.

For more information, as well as a full list of events, click here. Additional events are expected to be announced by this summer.

The Foundation also announced information about other upcoming events, such as the Kentucky Derby Festival Sunday Funday Drag Show on April 30, at 1 p.m. The show will be held for a third year on the Chow Wagon Stage at Waterfront Park. It's free for anyone with a Pegasus Pin, and VIP tables for six people are available for $150. For more information or to reserve a VIP table, click here.

The Louisville Pride 5K will be held June 11 in Cherokee Park. It starts at 9 a.m. from Hogan's Fountain Pavilion. Registration costs $20 before April 1, and $25 after that. For more information and to register, click here. There's also a virtual option.