The time has finally come for the return of the much-loved Manchester Pride Festival 2023, with the city ready to welcome a huge parade, a line-up of massive music, and loads of celebrations across the Gay Village.
The charity’s annual LGBTQ+ celebration is one of the highlights of Manchester’s events calendar, drawing thousands into the city.
This year, there’ll be the Gay Village Party, the parade, and loads of smaller events like Superbia Weekend, Family Pride, and more.
If you’re heading down to Manchester Pride Festival 2023, here’s everything you need to know, from travel to tickets and more.
Manchester Pride 2023 Parade
The Manchester Pride 2023 parade route. Credit: Supplied
This is arguably the most popular and well-attended part of the entire Manchester Pride Festival weekend – the parade.
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Thousands will take part in the march through the city centre, with tens of thousands usually coming to watch.
This year’s theme is Queerly Beloved, marking 10 years since gay marriage was legalised in England and Wales.
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The parade will set off at 12pm from Liverpool Road, navigating its path through the city centre via Deansgate, Peter Street, Oxford Road, Portland Street, Princess Street, Whitworth Street.
It’s expected to wrap up on Fairfield Street around 3pm.
Manchester Pride Festival tickets and wristband exchange
Manchester Pride Parade. Credit: Supplied
Manchester Pride Festival will run from Friday 25 August until Monday 28 August, with all events apart for the Gay Village Party free to attend.
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Weekend and day tickets are still on sale with Ticketmaster, though VIP and low income tickets have sold out.
Manchester Pride ticket prices are as follows:
Saturday day tickets – £33.85
Sunday day tickets – £33.85
Monday day tickets – £2.50
Weekend tickets – £41
You’ll need to swap your ticket for a Pledge Band at the Pledge Ban Exchange Point before heading into the Gay Village Party. You can find the exchange point at the Aytoun Street Car Park, with the opening times below.
Friday 25 August: 12pm – midnight
Saturday 26 August: 12pm – midnight
Sunday 27 August: 12pm – midnight
Monday 28 August: 12pm – 6pm
Manchester Pride Festival line-up
This year’s line-up is Manchester Pride’s most diverse to date, with 96% queer performers; 54% women, 51% people of colour and over 42% from trans and non-binary communities.
The music will take place across three stage; The Village Stage, MancUnity, and the Alan Turing Stage.
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Headliners include drag sensation Pabllo Vittar, singer-songwriter and Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner Danny Beard, and electronic music icon Alison Goldfrapp.
The full stage splits and set times are on the Manchester Pride website, but there’s a tidy summary below too.
The Village Stage: Trans Filth & Joy, hosted by Milk Presents and Trans Creative. Featuring BIMINI, Tito Bone, Cyro, The BollyWitch, and more. 18:30-23:00.
MancUnity: Celebrate Fat Pride, in partnership with Gaydio, with artists including The Niallist, Ivy Profemme, The Fat Britney, and Miss Lei-Lei. 18:30-00:00.
The Alan Turing Stage: Hosted by Donna Trump, and includes the Human Rights Forum, La Discothèque Orchestra, Queeriosity Cabaret, and more. 17:00-23:00.
Saturday
The Village Stage: Notable appearances by Alison Goldfrapp, Pabllo Vitar, Jodie Harsh, and more. The stage will open from 12:00 with a Parade screening, with main acts from 16:30-23:00.
MancUnity: Black Pride MCR / Swagga, headlined by Raven Mandella. 13:30-00:00.
The Alan Turing Stage: Queer Asian Takeover, hosted by Lucky Roy Singh, featuring Gok Wan, Gracie T, and more. 12:00-23:00.
Sunday
The Village Stage: Join Danny Beard and Friends, Jake Shears, Natasha Bedingfield, Lisa Scott-Lee, and more. 12:00-23:00.
MancUnity: Queer Women’s Takeover, with Monki, Blasha and Allatt, Mix-Stress and Friends, and more. 13:00-00:00.
The Alan Turing Stage: Cutie-poc Cabaret, hosted by Rikki Beadle-Blair, with Oneda, Angie Brown, and more. 12:00-23:00.
Monday
The Village Stage: Revel in community collaboration and enjoy performances from George the Dragon Disabled Queer Joy Cabaret and Cuppa T. 12:00-18:00.
MancUnity: The Runway by Manchester’s own 7ft drag artist Banksie, 14:00-17:00.
The Alan Turing Stage: Enjoy the melodies of the Disney Orchestra. 12:00-16:30.
Family Pride
Family Pride 2023.
Family Pride is the part of Manchester Pride Festival that aims to provide an exciting, inspiring and celebratory day for LGBTQ+ families, parents/carers, and children alike.
The completely free event will be held at the Great Northern Warehouse on Saturday 26 August, between midday and 6pm.
The programme includes music, crafting, party games and sing-a-longs, as well as a rainbow disco, showcasing performances and artists that champion love, self-expression and individuality.
There’s a rail strike on this weekend… yep, again. Oh, and there’s a First Bus strike on too.
So if you’re planning to get public transport in to town, you’ll need to plan carefully, especially as the Manchester Pride Festival is on at the same time as a Manchester United game and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ gig at Wythenshawe Park.
Mancs are being urged to leave their cars at home due to the road closures and diversions around the city centre.
As per the weather forecast for the entire summer so far, it’s not looking like a heatwave is imminent.
According to the Met Office, Friday will have highs of 17 degrees and lows of 12 degrees, and will be cloudy but dry.
On Saturday, there’s a 60% chance of a thunderstorm at 12pm (right at the time the parade starts, which is nice), then it will be cloudy with sunny spells after that.
Temperatures will reach 18 degrees, with lows of 11 degrees on Saturday.
On Sunday, there’s again highs of 17 degrees and lows of 12 degrees, with a chance of rain showers in the afternoon.
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And for the Candlelit Vigil on Monday, it’s cloudy and 18 degrees all day.
Featured image: Manchester Pride
What's On
A huge free careers festival geared towards young creatives is coming to Manchester this week
Daisy Jackson
The Catch22 TikTok Creative Academy and Factory International are hosting a careers festival in Manchester this week, designed to empower young creatives.
The huge free event on Thursday 3 April will take over Aviva Studios, offering everything from speed mentoring to CV clinics to expert talks.
Attendees will be able to have a free headshot taken, meet employers and like-minded creatives, and generally get a feel for how to build a career in the creative industry.
The Career Festival will boost Manchester’s creative future by supporting the next generation of creators, investing in their skills and confidence.
It’s all geared towards young people aged between 16 and 24 who face challenges in finding sustainable careers within the creative industries.
On the day, attendees will be able to receive one-on-one career advice from top industry professionals in speed mentoring sessions, learning from experts in marketing, media, production and more.
They’ll also be able to network with organisations, training providers and employers including Crew gal, Walk the Plank, and Gate Films.
Expert talks will give advice on how to break into the industry, while a CV clinic will help to hone CVs into a stand-out that’ll get a foot straight in the door, along with free headshot portraits.
The Catch22 TikTok Creative Academy and Factory International careers festival. Credit: Mark Crayden Photography
And the whole time attendees will be surrounded by other creatives, building a network that could launch them towards their next big opportunity.
The TikTok Creative Academy, delivered by Catch22 and funded by TikTok, is a free employment program designed to provide vital support to young people aged 16-24 seeking to enter the creative industries.
It’s been specifically targeted towards young people who experience barriers to employment, whether that’s because of challenges like mental health and limited educational attainment, or involvement with the criminal justice system.
The programme itself has a free employment course, offers targeted supports, and opens the door to the industry, fostering networking and career development.
The Catch22 TikTok Creative Academy and Factory International careers festival. Credit: Supplied
It also offers practical skills development and emphasises creative abilities to help young people thrive.
Quote from TikTok Creative Academy Senior Service Manager, Hilda Dotsey: “At Catch22, we are acutely aware of the challenges that young creatives face when it comes to finding sustainable employment in the creative industries and we are about to mark the 1000th person supported into work, training or further education through TikTok Creative Academy.
“With lack of industry insight and experience cited as one of the key barriers to quality creative careers, it is fantastic to be partnering with Factory International once more.
“This event, which celebrates our third year of delivering the programme, will open up pathways for Manchester youth, linking up the next generation of creative talent with industry experts and Manchester’s top creative voices.”
The Catch22 TikTok Creative Academy and Factory International: Career Festival will take place at Aviva Studios from 1pm to 4pm on Thursday 3 April.
You can find out more about Catch22 and the services available HERE.
Masters Football isn’t just back – it’s coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
The much-loved Masters Football format made its glorious comeback in 2022, and since then, it’s been steadily rebuilding an audience of passionate fans, plenty of whom you’ll find here in the sporting city of Manchester – so it’s a good job the national tournament is heading our way.
That’s right, the official English Masters Football competition is coming to 0161 later this year and will be bringing a host of legendary North West talent from years gone by to take part.
Although the full squads and their team captains have yet to be announced, former professionals from Manchester United, Man City, Liverpool, Everton, and more will be lacing back up their boots.
Manchester Masters Football 2025 lands at the equally iconic AO Arena this September.
Credit: Publicity Pictures (supplied)
For anyone unfamiliar with Masters Football, which developed a die-hard following when it first ran between 2000 and 2011, is shorter, indoor-only six-a-side footy tournament similar to futsal.
Each team will feature eight retired players, and the games unfold in a round-robin format, with each match consisting of two eight-minute halves, meaning that both sides have a little over a quarter of an hour to score enough to make it past the other.
In addition to the quicker matches, they will battle it out on a 60m x 30m pitch – the same size of an international ice hockey rink – and whoever makes it through with the highest points will battle it out in a grand final to claim the Manchester Masters title.
As you can see, players set to star this year include ex-United and City defenders Wes Brown and Joleon Lescott, as well as Liverpool and Everton strikers Djibril Cisse and Yakubu Ayegbeni.
You can see some of the best moments from the year it officially returned to the UK down below:
The Manchester edition of the 2025 English Masters Football Tournament Series arrives at the AO Arena on Friday, 5 September.
Doors will open to the venue from 6pm, with the first match kicking off at 7pm, so you better have drinks and snacks in time for bums to hit seats.
As for tickets, there’ll be two chances at early access, first for Three+ mobile members at 10am on Wednesday, 2 April and then via the venue’s presale window at the same time the following day. General admission tickets will be made available, also from 10am, the following Saturday, 5 April.
Daisy Jackson -
25th August 2023 
