At Green River Botanicals we strive to uphold and support the best of our community here in Western North Carolina. That’s why we are so excited to be a part of the 11th annual Blue Ridge Pride festival this coming weekend.
While our main focus is being good stewards of the land and getting involved in environmental education and restoration projects, Blue Ridge Pride has a mission that is near to our hearts as well. They work to promote equality, safety, and quality of life for Western NC’s LGBTQ community. The organization uses advocacy, celebration, education, and service to support their vision of an all-inclusive community where people feel welcome and accepted for who they are.
The Blue Ridge Pride Center, Inc. was founded in 2009, and held their first festival in October of that year at Asheville’s Martin Luther King Jr. Park. It was a success, as approximately 2,000 people attended despite inclement weather. After that rainy day, the festival grew each year in number of attendees, vendors, and sponsors.
The group continues to host a festival each year, and this time it will be held at Asheville’s Pack Square Park on Sept. 28th from 11am-7pm. At 10:30am there will be a welcoming procession, followed by the National Anthem and the Asheville Gay Men’s Chorus. Throughout the day the main stage and the café stage will feature musicians like Wild Bodema, Modern Strangers, and Laura Blackley and the Wildflowers. See a full list of performers at https://www.blueridgepride.org/wp-content/uploads/BRP-Festival-2019-Stage-Lineups-.pdf
The night before the festival, at The Block off Biltmore, you can attend the Blue Ridge Pride Story Slam from 7:30-9:30pm. More information on this is available at https://www.blueridgepride.org/pride-central/lgbtqa-story-slam/
And we certainly won’t be the only vendors! Asheville’s best makers, crafters, holistic practitioners, face painters, food, and sweet treats will be there. Some of our favorites are Secrets of a Duchess, The Hop, Moonlight Makers, and Farm Burger. Green River Botanicals will be offering free samples of our CBD Hemp Oil and Salve, as well as information about hemp and our farm.
We will be posting throughout the festival, so if you can’t make it in person you can join us on Facebook and Instagram for updates. You can also follow Blue Ridge Pride on social media if you’d like to be a part of this and future events.
All information is available at https://www.blueridgepride.org/
We hope to see you there!
