Activities for Emporia’s Pride celebration will be taking place this weekend, a bit later than normal.
The community celebration is scheduled for Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21, in the downtown corridor, with organizer Mallory Bishop saying the scheduling allows residents to incorporate more family into the function or to potentially create new family traditions.
The core of activities will begin at 4 pm with the parade down Commercial Street starting at Emporia State’s Kellogg Circle and culminating at the green space at 9th and Commercial. The remainder of activities, including a vendor market, live music and kids activities, will be centralized in that corridor with a live concert beginning around 4:30 pm and culminating with the outdoor drag show at 7 pm.
When asked about the importance of events such as Pride on the community calendar, Bishop equated it to a birthday party for the LGBTQ community.
That said, Bishop tells KVOE News that while the celebration centers around queer culture, the event is “for everybody” no matter how they choose to identify.
Entries for the parade and vendors for the event are still being accepted at this time. For more information on how to become involved or for a schedule of pride festivities, visit givebutter.com/emporia-pride-2026-fcfbau or find the Queer Year-Round Facebook page.
