LEXINGTON, Ky. — As Lexington's Pride Festival returns to the Central Bank Center, a local brewery is honoring the occasion.
With a special beer on tap and a personally designed can, West Sixth Brewing on the city's north side is coming together with Lex Pride Fest ahead of the city's annual festival to offer folks a bit of “Pride Y’all”.
Madison Plucknett, West Sixth Brewing marketing assistant, said the drink is a staple of the brewery.
“We've been making Pride Y’all for several years now," she said. "It is a raspberry sour beer with lactose and vanilla in it. We chose this beer because it's fine, it's pink, it's proud (and) it's pretty loud.”
Lex Pride is supported by several sponsors and partners. The brewery has designated the drink into green and orange rainbow categories, among other colors. A portion from every "Pride Y'all" four pack with West Sixth sold this month is going toward its nonprofit partners, Kentuckiana Pride and Lexington Pride Fest.
From 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Saturday, June 29, two stages and two floors of live performances, music, food, vendors, workshops and health information, among other activities, will take place. Jeremy Ellis, who has been a board member with the Lex Pride Center since 2022, has watched it grow from the city's courthouse steps to inside an arena with more enclosed space.
Ellis said families and people of all ages will experience love, safety and acceptance this weekend.
“This year, with all of the attacks that have been going on with an eye toward the drag community, we've focused on that as far as our entertainment schedule ends up," he said. "So we've got a lot of really great local entertainers that'll be going on throughout the day and then (for) our headlining show, we've decided that we're going to lean into it. We've gotten nationally known drag entertainers from all aspects ... we've got RuPaul's Drag Race girls, Dragula girls (and) Drag City, so we're excited about that."
He said the festival attracts anywhere from 2,000 to 3,500 visitors yearly.
“Our pride festival is centered around people in the surrounding area, so there are a lot of rural communities that make it out because Lexington is so centrally located," Ellis said. "It's a good opportunity for people who may not have a clear community where they're based to come out and connect with people in a similar situation."
It's exactly what West Sixth Brewing hopes to do through this partnership and others.
“Inclusivity means always striving to do a little bit better, making sure we're representing all kinds of people in our taproom, making sure we're partnering with all kinds of different nonprofits throughout the year, as well as acknowledging that pride is not just for June, right?" Plucknett said. "Pride is year-round, and we also take a lot of pride in sponsoring smaller pride festivals around the state."