| Status: | Active |
| Frequency: | Annually |
| Location: | Tri-Cities, Tennessee |
| Organiser: | TriPride TN, Inc. |
TriPride is an annual LGBTQ parade and festival rotating between the cities of the Tri-Cities region in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia: Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol, Tennessee/Bristol, Virginia.
The first festival was held in September 15, 2018 at Founders Park in Johnson City.[1] Over 10,000 people were in attendance for the event which included the first large pride parade in the Tri-Cities region.[2] [3]
One of the primary criticisms of the year one festival was the large police presence and perimeter that was established around the event. This was as a result of intelligence from the FBI. Over 240 officers from Johnson City and surrounding jurisdictions participated in the security of the event.[4] No incidents occurred during the festival.
The year two festival occurred on September 7, 2019 in downtown Kingsport, Tennessee.[5] The pride event was the first in the city's history. The festival's 2019 theme focused around the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots,[6] with a particular reference to the social progress that's been made since those riots occurred in 1969. The theme was "Look How Far We've Come."[7]
The year three festival was to happen on August 29, 2020 in downtown Bristol, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee.[8] Organizers cancelled the 2020 parade and festival event due to the COVID-19 crisis.[9] In June 2020, TriPride organizers offered free rainbow Pride Flags to any person in the community that wanted one as a way of celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride month.[10] [11]
The annual festival was to happen on October 16, 2021 in downtown Bristol, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee.[12] The parade and festival were cancelled for the second year in a row, again due to the COVID-19 crisis. The festival was expecting an attendance of over 10,000 people.[13]
The managing organization, TriPride TN, Inc., is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit.[14] There is a board of 15 directors, 5 of whom are an executive committee responsible for the day-to-day governing of the organization. Each board member serves a two-year term. The President and Vice President are an exception in that they serve a three-year term to ensure an overlap between boards between elections.