Pop and dance sensation — and gay favorite — Kimberly Locke will headline this year’s Atlanta Pride Festival in Piedmont Park set for the weekend of Oct. 9-10, the Atlanta Pride Committee announced today.

Locke will perform Oct. 9. This year’s fest marks the 40th anniversary of Atlanta Pride and is being held during the weekend of National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11.

A No. 1 Billboard recording artist, Locke rose to fame after competing on “American Idol,” finishing third after Ruben Stoddard and now Clay Aiken.

“Ever since season two of ‘American Idol,’ I have loved her,” Tony Kearney, one of the Programming Co-chairs from the Atlanta Pride Festival Committee, said in a statement.

“Out of Clay, Ruben, and Kimberley, she should have the longest running career!  From ‘Eighth World Wonder’ to ‘Band of Gold’ to today’s ‘Strobelight,’ Kimberley is still blowing everyone away with her vocals. A diva to the gays, she is going to blow us away at Atlanta Pride,” Kearney added.

Locke, who has maintained a career touring the gay circuit crowd, has also appeared on “Celebrity Fit Club” and is currently expected to host and be the executive producer of “Making the Curve,” a competitive reality show now in development that will put together plus-sized women, according to the Atlanta Pride Committee.

Besides singing and reality shows, Locke has made a name for herself by donating her time and energy to HIV charities such as Camp Heartland (a national non-profit organization committed to improving the lives of children and their families impacted by HIV/AIDS), the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, YouthAIDS, and the Davy Foundation. In 2007, she received the Red Ribbon Award for her efforts as an HIV/AIDS activist.

The APC promises to release more entertainers for this year’s 2010 Atlanta Pride Fest soon.

Top photo: Kimberly Locke (via MySpace)