Almost Too Much Fun at 2nd Annual Gay ‘Pride Day’ Celebration at Gazebo-Anchored Downtown Park

An online search the week prior to the second annual Gay “Pride Day” celebration, officially authorized by the Town of Front Royal municipal government for the use of public property, led us to this announcement of the coming event:

“FRONT ROYAL PRIDE IS BACK”

“We had so much fun celebrating love and PRIDE with you all last year; we just had to do it again! Join @frprideva at the Main Street, Front Royal Gazebo on Saturday, July 26, 2025, for a community celebration with music, vendors, food trucks, and of course … DRAG! This is a free event, and is open to EVERYONE who wants to celebrate the community,” the Pride site observed, adding to its organizational status and mission, “FRPride – Nonprofit organization: Local group dedicated to creating a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community in Front Royal, VA. www.frpride.com ”

Graphic from event sponsor @frprideva site, and below Gazebo-attached Pride event sign featuring listed sponsors. – Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini

And like the previous year’s event at the same location, the Pride Day celebration was well attended and enjoyed, as illustrated in the photos below, largely posted at this photo-feature story’s end.

This year’s event featured not only an expanded list of vendors. Also increased from last year’s inaugural event was the number of “Drag Queen” performers. We counted eight who exhibited a wide range of athletic, dancing, and humor skills while lip synching to their choices of music. The Lip Synch set one, of three scheduled, kicked off at 11 a.m., an hour into the 2025 Pride Day event.

Lip Synch moderator Ava V. Rage kicked off the ‘Drag’ performances, set one, an hour into the event with “HoldMyHand X Rather Be’.

Event attendance appeared to expand from late morning to early and mid-afternoon despite extremely hot summer temperatures — my phone app showed low to mid-90s, adding “Feels like 106,” which indeed it did. The heat drove many spectators to seek the shade of trees from the blazing sunlight, and organizers were prepared, handing out small hand fans to attendees.

That heat also led toward the projected threat of thunderstorms forecast to start as early as 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. But that stormy rain held off until about 3:30 p.m. for the 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. event. And while attendees may have been able to read the approaching weather pattern and head out in time to avoid the rain, the vendors were largely caught up in breaking down in it. But at least it may have cooled them down a bit.

Several vendor row shots followed by a full list of participating 2025 Pride Day vendors.

From this attendee’s experience for the second year in a row, you don’t have to be gay to enjoy “Pride Day”; you just have to have a sense of humor and an open mind about the lifestyle choices of other people that may differ from yours.

Below are two photos each of Drag Lip-Synching performers in the order in which they followed event moderator and performer Ava to play to the crowd. Also pictured are enthusiastic crowd members and a final series of shots of local performers the Royal Roper Rompers, who took their turn in raising the spirits of the crowd, and themselves.

Here and below are 2 photos of each of the 7 ‘Drag’ contestants to follow Ava V. Rage’s opening performance in the opening of three sets performed over the course of the day. Second up was Jayda (Whitney mix).

Third was Emerald (Physical mix)

Siren was next (Demi mix)

The crowd was well entertained as ‘Drag’ performers played to them and were rewarded by some in that crowd with cash contributions for their time, talent, and humor.

Chasity (Pink Pony Club mix)

Gimmea (Doechii mix)

Miranda (Hero mix), below Chasity encore

Ariel (Sabrina mix)

After the first set was completed, the ‘Drag’ participants were called back to the Gazebo launching site for a final crowd cheer to them all.

And another dance-oriented performance from event-associated members of the Royal Roper Rompers, scheduled to take on the Drag Queen performers later in a scheduled fun Lip Synch challenge, won by the homestanding Rompers, though the Drag Queens might claim the benefit of “home-field advantage” for the Rompers. One other announcement was of Poster Contest Winner Abby S.

See publisher Mike McCool’s Town Talk video event-preview interview with organizers Izzy France and Rae Spangler below.

Second Annual Pride Event Set for Saturday at Gazebo