On Saturday, the sound of joy echoed as hundreds marched down Franklin Street for the fifth annual Chapel Hill Pride Promenade. This event was the official kickoff to the 2026 Chapel Hill-Carrboro Small Town Pride.
Starting at the Peace and Justice Plaza, officials from the Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture division handed out flags, ribbons and noisemakers to visitors for free. The event then shifted to speeches from notable local figures.
Chapel Hill Mayor Jess Anderson spoke of how Chapel Hill is built for everyone to belong.
“We will not allow the noise, the cruelty or the political theater happening elsewhere to undermine that work,” she said.
She then introduced former Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt — the first openly gay mayor of Chapel Hill — who said though it seems like this movement is at risk of a retrograde, the individuals present at the event are the ones who will make a difference. He then took time to point out figures honored on the “Queer Leaders of Chapel Hill” bus parked in front of the plaza.
“Generations ago, the individuals memorialized on that bus there made it possible for me to be the mayor of the greatest town in America,” Kleinschmidt said.
The art on that Chapel Hill Transit bus, commissioned in 2024, pays tribute to local individuals who had a hand in queer liberation or civil rights in Chapel Hill. These include writer and activist Rev. Pauli Murray and the first openly gay elected politician in North Carolina, Joe Herzenberg.
Aaliyah Mendoza, the 2025 Poet Laureate of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, read her original poem, “La Migra,” to the crowd. Camila Sotre, the current CHCCS Poet Laureate, followed Mendoza, reading a poem about her experience as a lesbian.
Once the speakers finished, drummers from Batalá Durham, a branch of the international samba reggae music project from Brazil, led the group from the plaza to 140 W. Franklin Plaza.
This walk was joined by two counterprotesters, one holding a sign that read, “Christ does not accept you as you are. You must be born again.” The other had a loudspeaker and microphone.
Once at 140 W. Franklin Plaza, Anderson, Rev. Justin Coleman and Rev. Asya Coles of University United Methodist Church formed a human barrier between the counterprotesters and the rest of the festivities, moving side to side as they did. They waved rainbow fans to block the sign.
Coles, pastor of outreach for University United Methodist Church, said that while walking in the promenade, she found herself praying over what to do with the counterprotesters when she saw Anderson and Coleman quietly standing in front of them.
“I realized in that moment, even if I don’t feel the most comfortable being vocal or hitting them back with those kinds of words, I have so much peace in standing here and knowing that there is a God that loves us,” Coles said.
Lee Villalvazo, a festival-goer, said she found the response to these counterprotesters encouraging.
“That kind of hate is not welcome here, and I like how clear they made that,” she said.
Coles also said she was told this was the first time counterprotesters showed up to the promenade.
As the afterparty began, events included drag storytime, a DJ set and performances from local drag artists. Along with these were a row of tents, including local vendors and community partners.
One of the first booths represented the Chapel Hill Public Library, where library card registration and book checkouts were available.
Robyn McGlotten, library associate in adult services, said they signed up over a dozen new library cards at this event.
“We want to make sure that we are representing their needs including queer fiction, queer romance, queer history and that that is all reflected in our collection and also in the programming that we offer at the library,” she said.
Next to the library’s tent was the community mural, set up by local artist Mayanthi Jayawardena, also known as Serendib Creative. She said some of the mural’s experience is adding color and designs, but another part is answering prompts and giving feedback.
This year, one side of the mural read, “Y’ALL MEANS ALL,” and within the block letters were various designs painted by community members. Another side of the piece read “A community that cares. What does that look like to you?”
Jayawardena said she appreciated how there was nothing but positivity.
“I think community events like this are so important because, especially murals like this, because it’s everyone coming together, different backgrounds, ages, experiences, artists, nonartists and we all just create vibrance in the community,” Jayawardena said.
Darien Cropper, marketing and communications coordinator for Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture said in her three years of working this event, she heard from multiple people that this crowd was larger than ever. According to Xavier Vallejo, Community Arts & Culture special events coordinator, there were between 1,000 and 2,000 people present at the event, an increase from last year.
Cropper also said this event is important for conveying the Town of Chapel Hill’s goal of inclusivity.
“The purpose of this event has always been to create a space that people feel seen, celebrated and that they belong in this community,” Cropper said.
2026 Chapel Hill-Carrboro Small Town Pride will continue throughout the month of June, with both Carrboro’s Pride Piper Walk and the Carrboro Pride Dance Party on June 26.