When Donna Friend helped organize Holly Springs’ second-ever pride festival in September 2025, she was blown away by the turnout. The celebration began with a parade from the Food Lion parking lot up North Main Street toward the Holly Springs Cultural Center, where a crowd was already gathering for an afternoon of music, games, and food.
“As we’re walking up, we’re seeing people waving, and we’ve got more people joining us as we go, and as we’re rounding the corner, we had no expectation that there would be like 1,000 people when we got there,” Friend remembered.
“And the people on the other side had the same reaction as they’re watching us round the corner. We probably had 250 people with us. It was amazing.”
In the recent past, Holly Springs wasn’t exactly known for being queer friendly.
Four years ago this Pride Month, the Town Council declined to call a vote on Wake County’s nondiscrimination ordinance (NDO), which would have banned discrimination against the LGBTQ community, among other groups, within town limits, even as most other municipalities in the county greenlit the ordinance.
Three years ago, then-Mayor Sean Mayefskie issued a proclamation titled “Pride of Holly Springs” which noticeably failed to mention the LGBTQ community.
But a lot has changed. The nonprofit Pride of Holly Springs, which Friend chairs, is gearing up to host its third annual pride festival this year. The town finally passed the NDO in February, and in May, Mayor Mike Kondratick issued a real pride proclamation, the first in town history.
“Our community is strengthened by our residents’ rich diversity, and LGBTQIA+ residents and visitors should feel valued, safe, empowered, and supported by their peers, educators, employers, and community leaders,” the proclamation reads.
In an interview with the INDY, Kondratick credited the Pride of Holly Springs organization for advocating for the passage of the NDO and for “helping council members understand the importance of the LGBTQIA+ community to Holly Springs.”
The nonprofit formed in early 2024 with Jack Turnwald as its chair and Friend as vice chair. Turnwald was fresh off a narrow Town Council election loss; passing the NDO had been central to their platform.
“We all were feeling that the town was just really not accepting of the LGBTQ community,” Friend said. “No matter what we did, we couldn’t get the NDO signed, couldn’t get a pride proclamation done, and we said, ‘OK, we’re going to start creating a safe space.’”
Past iterations of the festival have included food trucks, local vendors, a kids zone with arts and crafts, live music, and resources from LGBTQ-affirming organizations like PFLAG and Hope for Teens. Friend said the 2024 event had 750 participants with 25 vendors, and 2025 had doubled the number of attendees and vendors. She expects participation to grow again this year.
Pride of Holly Springs also puts on other events throughout the year—including the upcoming Pride at the Park celebration at Womble Park on June 19, a community picnic for families complete with a DJ, a tie-dye station, and lawn games.
“We have a lot of support for this event on Town Council and in the mayor’s office, where before, I wouldn’t say we didn’t have support, I’d say it was just a lack of interest,” Friend said.
According to Friend, this new level of support is a direct result of political shifts on the council. Outside of her role with Pride of Holly Springs, Friend is the regional vice chair for the Wake County Democratic Party, and in that capacity she helped elect four Democrats, including Kondratick, to the Holly Springs Town Council in 2023 to flip the voting majority from Republican to Democratic. (As mayor, Kondratick himself does not vote except to break ties. Besides him, the Town Council is now composed of four Democrats and one Republican.)
Friend says the Holly Springs community has embraced Pride of Holly Springs and the festival.
“You’re going to get a few crankies,” she said. “But for the most part, I think Wake County is pretty good, and I think Holly Springs has come a long way. I will tell you that my wife and I feel a lot more comfortable and a lot more accepted in Holly Springs.”
In addition to putting on the annual pride festival, the nonprofit also funds scholarships for high schoolers who show a commitment to inclusion, community-building, or LGBTQIA+ advocacy. It awarded two $500 scholarships in 2025 and will award four $1,000 scholarships in 2026, Friend said. She expects “that number will grow significantly” next year and beyond as the organization continues to fundraise.
“The scholarship recipients … they’re bright kids, they’re good academically, but these are people who want to help shape the world, which always makes you feel good.
“The [scholarship] applications … have all been about ‘I want to be in public service, I want to be in community service,’” Friend said. “They’re all about making this world a better place.”
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