For the first time in Fayetteville PRIDE history, the nonprofit will be hosting its annual Pride Festival this year in an indoor venue: the Crown Complex’s expo center.
The 2025 Fayetteville Pride Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 21. In addition to the location change from Festival Park, organizers extended this year’s festival by four hours — last year’s ran from noon to 6 p.m.
Festivalgoers can also expect new features, like a kids’ area with youth activities and a poetry reading, as well as alcohol beverage sales and comprehensive security through the Crown Complex’s sponsorship of the event, Fayetteville PRIDE President Krystal Maddox told CityView’s Evey Weisblat.
“I want the LGBTQ+ community and our allies to know that we are listening to them,” Maddox said in a press release published on the festival’s Facebook event page. “The changes in 2025 are our way of making sure that we make your safety and comfort a priority. More than ever we MUST come together as a community and support each other!”
This year’s festival will also include performances by Morgan Richards, a drag performer described by Maddox as a “Fayetteville legend,” and Jean-Belle Bleu, the headliner of the festival, Maddox told CityView.
There will also be educational workshops, a community arts project table, local vendors, as well as food trucks, crafts and other goods, and community resource hubs. The event is free and open to the public, all ages welcome.
For more information on this year’s Fayetteville Pride Festival, click here.
Read CityView Magazine’s “The Downtown Issue” June 2025 e-edition here.
