Downtown Sylva will bustle with energy and color Sept. 18-20, as the town’s Pride Festival returns after a two-year hiatus. 

“I’m super excited,” said Sylva Pride Board Member Paige LeBlanc. “I fully expect this to be — not that it’s a competition, but it kind of is — the best Sylva Pride yet.”

In July, Sylva town commissioners approved a request for the parade’s temporary road closure permits on the condition that Sylva Pride pay for half of the associated costs.

After receiving the green light for the parade, Sylva Pride immediately began fundraising, and thanks to an anonymous donor, the organization has raised enough money to cover both their half and the town’s half of the festival expenses.

Riding the high of the anonymous donation and securing permitting with the town, the community is feeling a wave of momentum heading into Pride weekend.

Town commissioners shot down Sylva Pride’s requests for a parade permit in 2024 and 2025, citing safety concerns and constraints on manpower, but critics have said the decisions were undergirded by anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments among conservative town leaders. 

This year, with the help of more progressive town commissioners Perry Matthews and Sam McGuire, the pride parade has returned, and many see growing local support as a sign of good things to come.  

“To finally get it in its full form like this, with a parade back, is just such an affirmation of the love and the celebration of queer people that Sylva has shown to endorse,” said LeBlanc.

This year’s festival theme is “Rainbow Rodeo.” Festival events start Friday evening with a Pride Mass at St. John’s Episcopal Church from 6:30-8 p.m. and end with a parade afterparty on Sunday night at Breadhead’s Tiki Shack from 6-9 p.m.

Much of the success of the Sylva Pride festival over the years can be attributed to the growth of the local drag scene, said LeBlanc.

Last month, local drag king Kalab Klass was crowned Mr. Sylva Pride at the Mx Sylva Pride Drag Pageant, and he will lead Sunday’s parade as this year’s Pride ambassador. He chose Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” as the song for his winning performance and said he liked that the song spoke to the idea that people don’t need to be put into boxes or forced into categories.

Klass said he is a little nervous to be leading the parade this year, but he is excited to use his platform to champion causes he cares about. 

“I’m very excited to see the parade come back,” Klass said. “The parade is basically just a celebration of all of us individuals who make up this part of our community. I’m really hoping we see a lot of people walking with their pride flags, walking with their friends — ones they came with, and new ones they may make while they’re at the festival.”

He first became introduced to the drag scene around 2023, when North Carolina legislators were considering a drag ban, and he attended a local “Mad for Drag” event in protest.

Klass said he had been between friend groups at the time and looking for community. At the event, he saw not only his first drag king, but also another Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians member doing drag. Klass himself is an ECBI member and said the event inspired him to consider taking part in the artform.

“Just seeing everybody take part in this part of themselves, that they were happy and open to celebrate and share with their community, that was honestly something that I struggled within myself to find,” Klass said. “I was like, maybe if I kind of nose into this a little bit, I can learn a little more about myself, try to find myself, and see if this will help with some of the things that I’m going through in my life.”

Now, just three years after that night, Klass has clinched the crown for Mr. Sylva Pride and has been able to connect with the various parts of his gender identity and mixed Indigenous and European heritage in new and creative ways. He hopes to use his platform to help others find belonging in the local queer community that was there for him when he needed the same thing.

Klass is also passionate about using his platform to promote mutual aid events, create more inclusive opportunities for gathering beyond the nightlife scene, and build hope through meaningful connection with community. 

“After watching this whole town change after the last 30 years, I have seen how people come in and made their influence, and I have seen how people have left and how their influence and absence have affected the area,” he said. “Seeing who has come in and has done what has been interesting and has partially inspired me to try and make, at least, somewhat of a change myself since I grew up here and I don’t foresee myself leaving anytime soon.”

The weekend has been the product of months of planning meetings and legwork from volunteers and organizers that LeBlanc and Klass say is indicative of a local community that supports the local LGBTQ+ community and beyond.

Sylva Pride 2026 Full Schedule:

Friday: 

  • Pride Mass at St Johns — 6:30-8p.m.
  • Drag Karaoke at Neon Moon — 9p.m. to midnight

Saturday: 

  • Chalk Walk: noon to 5 p.m.
  • Drag Brunch at Breadhead’s: 1-2 p.m.
  • Read In at JCPL: 1-3 p.m.
  • Rainbow Market at Calliope: 4-8 p.m.

Sunday: 

  • Sylva Pride 2026 Festival at Bridge Park: Noon to 6 p.m.
  • Drag Performances  
  • Journey Among Men: 4 p.m.
  • Pride Parade: 2-3 p.m.
  • After Party at Breadhead’s: 6-9 p.m.