Image Credit: Mid-South Pride / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
Mid-South Pride kicks off their 50th Memphis Pride Fest this coming weekend.
In a press release, Mid-South Pride President Vanessa Rodley said that the theme for this year’s celebration is about “honoring where we’ve been while amplifying where we’re going.”
The two Grand Marshals are a 78-year-old trans “woman” who is diagnosed with AIDS and a Community Building Manager with an AIDS non-profit for Latinos.
These two will lead the annual Beale Street Pride Parade on Saturday, June 7th, which ends at the Robert R. Church Park where the Pride Festival is held.
Memphis Pride is billed as the largest Pride celebration in the region with upwards of 60,000 attendees. Children, as always, are welcome as there are no age restrictions on the open festival area or parade.
Mid-South Pride’s website says that the festival “offers a family-friendly haven where kids can dive into a world of creativity and fun.” There is a dedicated kids area meant to foster a “sense of inclusion and joy.”
Along with nearly 200 vendors and exhibitors, the festival hosts two stages of live entertainment which will include drag queens.
As part of Pride month’s festivities in Memphis, another of the Pride festival’s “court” – the reigning “Miss Mid-South Pride 2025” – is “Polly Popjoy” who will be hosting a Pride Kink Night the Thursday before Memphis Pride Fest.
In an Instagram post, she describes the event as a “kinky burlesque show with a dungeon play after party” at Hi Tone Cafe.
Popjoy regularly hosts “Beginner Bondage” classes and is an advocate of polyamory.
Sponsors for Memphis Pride include well known LGBTQ organizations such as OUTMemphis, Mid-South LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Planned Parenthood, and Tennessee Equality Project as well as businesses such as Walgreens, Kroger, FedEx, and Buff City Soap.
Nashville’s Pride Festival scheduled for later this month, is also open to children, where some youngsters might catch a familiar face on the main stage.
Nashville Middle School teacher, Benjamin Slinkard, who openly advertises his side hustle as a Drag Queen is set to be one of the hosts on the main stage during the three-day festival.
An educator for the past fifteen years, Slinkard worked at May Werthan Shayne Elementary School for twelve years, and currently teaches at Meigs Middle School, a Nashville Magnet School, as a Gifted and Talented teacher.
Nashville’s Pride festival, to be held at the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, will feature a “Drag Extravaganza” with over 50 performances which will be open to minors along with other “family-friendly” activities.
The Youth Zone at the festival is being organized by Just Us, an arm of the Oasis Center, described on their website as a “youth empowerment program” for high school students who identify “somewhere on the LGBTQ+ spectrum” that meets weekly at a location on Charlotte Avenue in Nashville. The Oasis Center also runs a weekly program for children as young as 11.
General Admission tickets for the festival grants access to hundreds of festival vendors, including bars, and entertainment on three separate stages with one stage reserved exclusively for Drag which can be openly viewed by all children in attendance.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
