Autistic Pride Day began as an international movement 20 years ago, created by autistic people to celebrate identity, culture, and community. Each June, autistic people around the world gather to affirm that we are not hidden, but honored.
In 2026, Autistic Pride Chattanooga hosted Chattanooga’s first autistic‑led Autistic Pride Day — and, as far as we know, the first Autistic Pride Day celebration in the entire Southeast. This event marked a milestone for our city and our region, joining the global celebration with a distinctly local, autistic‑led voice.
This was just the beginning
A Global Movement,
A Local Beginning
Thank you for showing up for us.
Autistic Pride Day brought more than 700 people into the Downtown Chattanooga Library, and we are deeply grateful to everyone who showed up, shared their time, and helped make the day feel like a true community gathering. Your presence affirmed why Autistic Pride Day matters, strengthened the work we are building together, and showed what is possible when our community comes out in full force.
Autistic Pride Day was not an awareness or education event but a celebration of the diversity that makes us human, particularly our neurodiversity. It was a day of being authentically ourselves within our loving community and sharing autistic joy and pride with Chattanooga and beyond. Some people traveled up to five hours to be with us, while others joined spontaneously after walking past the library and seeing autistic culture spilling out of the building and into the city.
Take a Look
Then stick around after our gallery to hear how it went and what comes next. Thank you to Little Bird Shot Media for donating, time, talent, and resources to bring this gallery to us.
Autistic Pride Day unfolded across all four floors of the Downtown Chattanooga Library and spilled into an outdoor festival, and the entire day moved exactly as planned. From the moment people approached the building, it was clear the event had grown beyond the walls of the library. The celebration pushed outward into a full outdoor festival that stretched across the front plaza and down the walkway, drawing in people who had no idea an event was happening until they saw the activity, color, and movement pouring out of the doors. It felt like a world built by autistic people, for autistic people, and anyone walking up could feel that immediately.
Community tents lined the entrance with side quests, games, and interactive activities that set the tone from the start. Creatives on the Go Party Co. offered face painting that stayed busy all day, adding bright color to the festival before people even stepped inside. The Craft Cottage ran a DIY bracelet station. Northern Lights Behavioral Consulting filled the entire front plaza with Bubble Mania, sending bubbles drifting across the street and catching the attention of passersby. Nerdy4Food hosted a full food tent offering food you can play with, which became its own attraction as people gathered to try dishes tied to their fandoms. Kindred Coffee set up alongside them, serving hot and iced drinks that kept the crowd energized throughout the day.
Volunteers greeted attendees at the door, collected nonperishable donations for the Chatt Pride Food Coalition, and handed out the first button of the day. The buttons were part of the event’s choose your own adventure system. Each activity, quest, or space earned a unique button, and attendees filled their lanyards as they explored the building. It turned the entire event into a self paced adventure, giving people the freedom to follow their interests and build their own experience.
Inside, registration moved smoothly. Attendees received either their preregistration lanyard or a free day of lanyard, and those lanyards became adventure logs as people collected buttons throughout the building. Guests also signed up for text notifications throughout the day, staying grounded in the day’s activities and offerings, and received either a hardcopy or digital version of the event zine to guide them through the adventures. The first floor served as the central hub, with the auditorium hosting the opening ceremony, panels, and the stimming contest. Tabletop gaming stations ran all day with Magic the Gathering, puzzles, Legos, and other activities that let people sit, play, and connect at their own pace. Chattooine’s cosplayers drifted through the event like moving set pieces, not stationed or posed but actually roaming. It was completely normal to turn a corner and see Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother deep in conversation with SpongeBob, or a Sith Lord comparing buttons with Ed from Good Burger. Their presence stitched the whole building together with a kind of joyful chaos that fit the day perfectly.
The stimming contest became one of the most joyful moments of the day. Participants came up to show their favorite stim, whether movement based, object based, or vocal, and the room responded with genuine enthusiasm. There was no competition. Everyone received a trophy. The point was joy, recognition, and the freedom to stim openly without being othered, but instead understood and admired for the talent that stimming is.
The Peer Review Autism Assessments, for entertainment purposes, were another major highlight. Assessors from NeuroQueer Chattanooga, GCA, and Autistic Pride Chattanooga delivered commentary that blended satire with genuine recognition of autistic traits. People laughed, nodded, and saw themselves reflected in ways that felt communal instead of clinical. This did actually get a little competitive, even though the points were completely made up.
On the second floor, Magic of Literacy created a cozy reading fort for guest author Bethany Stahl, who shared her children’s story with families throughout the day. Younger attendees moved between story time, neuroaffirming children’s books, and hands on STEM activities led by REconnect Nature School. Their projects were designed for tweens and teens who like to build, experiment, and solve problems, and the space stayed active with groups rotating through.
The third floor provided a reset point. Tea with Iroh offered a calm, structured tea room experience created by Joseph Wooten. Kari Flowers led yoga and mantras that helped people regulate and settle before continuing their adventure. The Actually Silent Silent Auction displayed forty pieces of art created by autistic and neurodiverse artists in partnership with the H*Art Gallery. Every piece was auctioned to benefit the artists directly. Donated items from the community were also auctioned, raising over seven hundred dollars for Autistic Pride Chattanooga.
The fourth floor held the Dungeons and Dragons campaign run by Chattanooga Table Top Revue, which drew a steady stream of participants throughout the day. The Adventure Market filled the rest of the floor with artists, makers, and creators offering plushies, stickers, illustrations, oddities, textiles, clothing, and more. The market stayed busy as attendees browsed, talked with vendors, and explored the range of work from the neurodiverse community.
Open Mic Infodumping, hosted by Barking Legs Theatre, ran beside the market and quickly became one of the most popular spaces in the building. Open Mic Infodump was a huge hit. We all learned so much from each other. Even people who had not prepared anything ahead of time pulled up Google images, Wikipedia pages, and YouTube clips on the spot to show what they were talking about. It was pure autistic culture, unfiltered enthusiasm, deep knowledge, and the freedom to talk about what you love with those who know how to appreciate it.
But all good things have to come to an end, and the most common complaint Autistic Pride Chattanooga heard was that Autistic Pride Day was not long enough. As the day wrapped up, everyone was already saying next year and next time, planning for the future before the doors even closed.
Our community partners told us how much they learned simply by being around us. They saw that the things people assume they should outgrow are actually needs, joys, and comforts that matter. They learned by watching autistic people be ourselves without apology, something the world rarely gets to see. That visibility is what normalizing autistic culture looks like.
We chose the Downtown Chattanooga Library because of the accessibility and the comfort our community feels there, and the staff felt that connection immediately. They told us we were the most respectful, welcoming, and loving event they had ever hosted, something we already knew about our community. We have been left out throughout our lives, and that is exactly why we refuse to leave anyone else out.
Near the end of the day, library staff came to tell us we had reached seven hundred attendees, a number far beyond anything we imagined for our first year. The culture of Chattanooga shifted that day, and history took place.
Why Autistic Pride Day Matters
Autistic Pride Day is not an awareness event. It is a cultural event built by autistic people for everyone, where we can exist safely, joyfully, and “unmasked”.
What makes this event different is the shift in who is doing the creating. Most communities build events to support autistic people. This time, autistic people are building an event to support the community and to offer leadership, culture, and care from the inside out. It is a reversal of the usual direction of support, and it matters. It shows that autistic people are not only participants in community life but creators of it, shaping spaces with our own hands, values, and imagination.
Simply stating pride in our neurodiversity is revolutionary. That is why Autistic Pride Chattanooga began around the simple idea to bring Autistic Pride Day to our region of the world. In a landscape where autistic people are often spoken for, pathologized, or pushed to the margins, claiming pride is an act of resistance and an act of community‑building. It shifts the narrative from deficit to culture, from intervention to identity, from being managed to being understood on our own terms.
Autistic Pride Day matters because it creates space for autistic identity to be recognized as something worth celebrating rather than something to fix. It challenges stigma by making autistic presence visible, collective, and unapologetic. It restores agency by centering autistic leadership and lived experience. It strengthens belonging by giving our community a place to gather without “masking”, without explanation, and without compromise.
This day signals that autistic people in Chattanooga and across the Southeast deserve spaces shaped by our needs, our leadership, and our ways of moving through the world. It is a declaration that autistic culture exists, that it is vibrant, and that it belongs here.
Thank You to Our Supporters
Our underwriters reflect the community that is bringing Autistic Pride Day to Chattanooga. This event exists because of collective support and shared investment in Autistic community and culture.
We offer full party support from start to finish, handling setup, creative details, and cleanup so families can stay present and enjoy the day without the stress of managing the moving parts.
An artist and crafter who brings hands‑on DIY fun to any event, creating moments of play, creativity, and connection.
The Uncle Iroh Team often shares that Uncle Iroh has been their guiding hero for years. They believe the world needs more gentleness, warmth, and steady wisdom, so they bring that spirit to every event. They create a calming space and offer tea to anyone who needs a quiet moment. If you see the Uncle Iroh Team out in the world, you’re welcome to join them for tea and a breath before continuing your adventure.
Chattooine is a charity costuming group founded in 2004 here in Chattanooga. Our mission is to spread happiness and joy through costuming, contribute to the local community through costumed charity and volunteer work, and encourage creativity while sharing the fun of pop culture and fandoms with others.
REconnect Nature School is a Nature-Immersive, Community-Facing, STEAM-Focused, Microschool for Middle and High School aged students.
Let's Reimagine Education Together. Our approach to education is rooted in the belief that by combining academics with real-world applications, we can prepare our students not only to excel academically but also to become compassionate stewards of this world. Through innovative projects that blend creativity with conservation, students develop a holistic understanding of the interconnectedness between themselves and the world around them.
Barking Legs Theater’s mission is to enhance the community by cultivating and mentoring diverse artists, presenters, and audiences in an accessible and creative environment. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the work of contemporary performing artists in the Southeast and beyond.
We are committed to supporting and presenting work that challenges the barriers that inhibit new growth and exploration and that push outside the prescribed boundaries of the performing arts. We seek to serve the community through outreach programs, arts projects, and classes.
A group of nerds looking to blend culture and fun into food for every fandom to enjoy! Around here, they like to play with their food, offering multicultural cuisine with fandom flare that invites you to eat your fandom. Come out and join Nerdy4Food in celebrating autistic pride, one bite at a time. They’re the reason the 1st Autistic Pride Day in the Southeast even has a lunch adventure, and we’re grateful for the creativity and problem‑solving that made it possible. Follow them on social media to see the Autistic Pride Day menu as soon as they post it. Go ahead, play with your food!
Chattanooga Tabletop Revue is a charitable company dedicated to using the power of live performance and tabeltop gaming to make a difference. We produce high-energy, unscripted stage shows featuring talented improv actors, with 100% of proceeds going directly to support other charities and community organizations.
Our mission is simple: entertain, engage, and give back. Whether you're attending a live improv performance or rolling dice at a charity game night, you're helping support meaningful causes and strengthening community bonds—one show and one game at a time.
Kari Flowers is a yogi committed to making yoga accessible to all bodies and all nervous systems. Her practice is rooted in the belief that regulation belongs to everyone, and she brings a steady passion for sharing movement, breath, and grounding techniques that support people wherever they are. Kari’s approach centers inclusion, autonomy, and the simple truth that every nervous system deserves tools that help it settle and reconnect.
H*Art Gallery is a Chattanooga nonprofit that creates space for artists who are often overlooked, offering a platform where creativity, dignity, and community meet. Their mission centers artists who have experienced homelessness, disability, mental health challenges, or other barriers, and they provide the support, materials, and opportunities needed for those artists to share their work with the world.
The gallery operates with a simple belief: art is a form of connection, and everyone deserves access to it. Through exhibitions, community partnerships, and hands‑on support, H*Art Gallery uplifts artists whose voices and visions might otherwise go unseen. Their work brings depth, color, and humanity to every space they join.
Press & Media
Our mission is to amplify, center, and empower Autistic voices. It is important that Autistic people are leading and included in conversations about autism.
Thank you for helping us advance that work.
What This Day Builds
Bringing Autistic Pride Day to Chattanooga is more than hosting an event — it’s creating a space where autistic identity is recognized as culture and community. This day strengthens the groundwork for future gatherings, collaborations, and shared imagination. Every person who participates helps shape what grows from here.
