Create the Adventure
Autistic Pride Day is built by the community, and there are many ways to help shape the experience. From designing event gear to sharing art or volunteering your time, this is where you can contribute your creativity and energy to the celebration.
Whether you’re an artist, designer, helper, or someone who simply wants to support the event, there’s a place for you to be part of making the day happen.
T-Shirt Design Submissions
Not a Contest - Community Designs Will Be Featured on Autistic Pride Day T-Shirts
Autistic Pride Day isn’t just a place to attend — it’s something the community helps create.
We’re inviting artists and designers to submit original artwork for Autistic Pride Day T-shirts. These designs help celebrate autistic pride, creativity, and community while also helping raise funds that support the event itself.
Selected designs will be featured in the Autistic Pride Chattanooga Bonfire store, where community members can purchase them and proudly wear artwork created by fellow members of the community.
Every event shirt will include a shared message marking the occasion:
“1st Autistic Pride Day – Autistic Pride Chattanooga – June 20th 2026 – Downtown Library.”
Designers may suggest shirt colors or other creative ideas as part of their submission.
If you’d like to contribute your own design, we’d love to see it.
T-shirt design submissions are open through May 20th.
Explore Current Designs
Curious what kinds of designs our community has already created?
Visit the Autistic Pride Chattanooga Bonfire store to explore shirts that are currently available and support the event while wearing artwork created by members of the community.
Lanyard Design Competition
The Autistic Pride Day lanyard will also be designed by the community.
Each participant receives a lanyard and adventure log during the event. As people explore the building and complete side quests, they collect buttons that attach to their lanyard throughout the day. By the end of the event, the lanyard becomes a small record of the adventure they experienced.
Because the lanyard becomes part of the experience itself, we want the design to come directly from the community.
Artists and designers are invited to submit original lanyard designs for the event. After submissions close, the community will vote on their favorites, and the winning design will become the lanyard used for Autistic Pride Day.
Lanyard design submissions are open through April 20th.
Community voting will begin on April 20th once submissions close.
Get Your Limited-Edition Adventure Lanyard
Autistic Pride Day is completely free to attend, and registration will also be available at the door on the day of the event.
For those who would like to support the celebration ahead of time, preregistration is available for $5. Early registration helps our team prepare the space, activities, and resources needed for everyone coming together.
As a thank you, guests who preregister will receive a limited-edition event lanyard at check-in — a small souvenir from something historic: the first Autistic Pride Day in the Southeast United States.
This lanyard marks the beginning of something new. Years from now, it will be the keepsake that says you were there when it all started.
Preregistration is available through June 1st.
Actually Silent Auction & Art Exhibit
On the third floor of the library, visitors will find a quieter space dedicated to rest, reflection, and Tea with Iroh. This area is intentionally designed to move at a slower pace, giving people the chance to wander, take in creative work, and spend time with pieces that resonate with them.
This space will also host a community art exhibition and silent auction featuring work by autistic and neurodivergent artists.
One of the core goals of Autistic Pride Chattanooga is to amplify, empower, and center autistic voices. Creating space for autistic and neurodivergent artists to share their work is an important part of that mission.
Artists are invited to participate in whichever way feels right for them. Some may choose to display their work as part of the exhibition, while others may choose to enter a piece into the silent auction. Artists are welcome to do either one or both.
For artists who participate in the silent auction, all proceeds from the sale of their work go directly to the artist. This is an opportunity for creators to share their talent with the community and earn money from their work. We do not expect artists to donate their earnings from auction sales.
You do not need to be a professional artist to participate. We welcome a wide range of creative expression and encourage artists at all stages of their creative journey to share their work.
Our goal is to create a supportive and affirming space where autistic and neurodivergent artists can showcase their creativity, connect with the community, and be recognized for the value of their work.
If you would like to submit artwork for the exhibition or silent auction, you can do so here:
Volunteer With Us
Autistic Pride Day is Powered By Volunteers
From welcoming guests and guiding visitors through activities to supporting quiet spaces, helping vendors and artists, and assisting with setup or cleanup, volunteers are the people who help create the adventure for everyone who attends.
But supporting Autistic Pride Day doesn’t only happen on the day of the event. Volunteers who help with other Autistic Pride Chattanooga initiatives — like Autistic for Safe Food, neuroDIVERSEcity, community meetups, and behind-the-scenes projects — make it possible for our team to focus time and energy on bringing Autistic Pride Day to life.
In other words, when you volunteer anywhere in our community, you are helping make Autistic Pride Day possible.
If you’re interested in getting involved, we invite you to learn more about how volunteering works and fill out our volunteer interest form.
Thank You for Helping Create the Adventure
Autistic Pride Day is more than an event — it’s something our community builds together.
Whether you design a shirt, submit artwork, volunteer your time, or simply show up ready to explore, every contribution helps shape the experience. The creativity, care, and imagination of the people who make up this community are what turn Autistic Pride Day into
sHowever you choose to take part, we’re glad you’re here, and we hope you’ll reach out and say hello if you have any questions.
