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Manchester Pride 2025 line-up announced, with headline performances from Olly Alexander and Leigh-Anne

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 14th March 2025

Manchester Pride has revealed its 2025 line-up and headliners ahead of the city’s huge LGBTQ+ celebration.

Set to take place, a usual, over the August bank holiday weekend, this year’s live entertainment features headline slots for Olly Alexander, Leigh-Anne, and Billy Porter.

Manchester Pride will span across the Gay Village Party and the newly-announced Mardi Gras event at Depot Mayfield.

The line-up is packed with LGBTQ+ icons and allies once again as summer’s event calendar heats up.

This year’s Manchester Pride festival will take place between Friday 22 and Monday 25 August, culminating in the candlelit vigil at Sackville Gardens.

Topping the bill this year is Brit Award winner and Years and Years frontman Olly Alexander, along with multi-platinum pop star Leigh-Anne, of Little Mix fame, and Hollywood superstar Billy Porter.

Also announced by Manchester Pride today are special guests including Tulisa, Big Freedia, Sonique and Louisa Johnson, Jodie Harsh, and multi-award winning cabaret artist, Danny Beard with The Danny Beard Show.

Manchester Pride has also worked with community collectives to commission a number of immersive shows, including House of MCR, which will bring together dance, singing, lip-syncing and fashion.

Kulture Cabaret will be a celebration of queer South Asian and Middle Eastern performers, and Queenz: Drag me to the disco will feature during the bank holiday celebrations.

Bongo’s Bingo will kick off the Manchester Pride celebrations each day.

This is all part of the first-ever line-up for the brand new Mardi Gras event, which will take place on the Saturday and Sunday and has an ambition to better represent marginalised communities such as trans, non-binary, and queer local talent.

The Gay Village Party will be back in Manchester Pride’s spiritual home from Friday 22 to Monday 25 August, featuring Samantha Mumba, B*Witched and Sister Sledge featuring Kathy Sledge – with more still to be announced.

These performances will be across two stages, the Alan Turing stage and the Indoor Arena, alongside a funfair, market stalls, and pop-up food vendors, plus Ginny Lemon’s Dog Show.

Mark Fletcher, CEO at Manchester Pride, said: “Manchester Pride is the city’s celebration of LGBTQ+ life and culture and each year we’re challenged to respond to the diverse needs of our communities.

“Working closely with LGBTQ+ groups and collectives from Greater Manchester we’ve been able to respond to the needs of our communities in presenting a queer focussed, intentional line up of performers who will elevate and lend their support to the rich bed of LGBTQ+ performers that this city has to offer.

“With the introduction of the new Mardi Gras event we needed to make sure that we stayed true to what Pride is about in this city.

“Our communities were clear that they wanted to see LGBTQ+ performers front and centre and we’re thrilled to announce a line up which serves.

“With so many stages available across the two live music based events we’re confident that there’s something for everyone; whether that be multi platinum selling pop artists, drag queen royalty or ballroom fierceness that you can expect to see at the special House of MCR Show.”

Manchester Pride 2025 line-up

Friday 22 August

Gay Village Party

  • Samantha Mumba

Saturday 23 August

Mardi Gras

  • Leigh-Anne // Billy Porter
  • Special Guest: Big Freedia
  • Gok Wan // Sonique // Booty Luv // Joshua James // Bestley
  • The Danny Beard Show // Dean Mccullough’s Pop Machine // Bongo’s Bingo
  • Queenz: Drag Me To The Disco // Black Pride Mcr // Runway X Banksie
  • Rikki Beadle-Blair // Darren Pritchard

Gay Village Party

  • B*Witched // Diana Vickers
  • Gaydio Dance Arena

Sunday 24 August

Mardi Gras

  • Olly Alexander
  • Special Guest: Tulisa
  • Tayce // Jodie Harsh // Louisa Johnson  // K-Klass // N-Trance // Banksie
  • Stephani B // Anna Phylactic // Lucky Roy Singh
  • House Of MCR – Pride Edition //
  • Gaydio Dance Arena // Bongo’s Bingo // Kulture Cabaret

Gay Village Party

  • Sister Sledge Featuring Kathy Sledge // Angie Brown
  • Ginny Lemon’s Dog Show
  • Diva’s Only With Misty Chance // Your Manchester Live With Belinda Scandal

Tickets and more information are HERE.

Featured image: Gemma Parker

Audio

Oasis are being linked with a massive outdoor gig next year

Danny Jones Danny Jones Oasis rumoured for Slane Castle outdoor gig 2026

After 16 long years of waiting, Oasis are officially the biggest band on the planet again (not that they ever really stopped), and now they’re being linked with a rather big outdoor gig at the storied Slane Castle next year.

They’ve already done Knebworth, so why not tick another one off the list?

With the Live ’25 reunion tour well underway, and rumblings over what they’re going to do once this run of global comeback shows is done, Britpop fever hasn’t just had fans of the band reliving the 1990s – it’s practically taken over the music world.

There’s already plenty of talk circling – including a potential return to Knebworth – but now Oasis is pretty much the first and only name being tipped for a huge headline slot at Slane Castle, after 2026 dates were slated by the estate’s owners.

slaine castle gigs
Slane Castle hosted natives, U2, for their Go Home live concert film back in 2002. (Credit: Sara Einarsson via WikiCommons)

While Harry Styles played Ireland’s historic and equally iconic venue back in 2023, the Co Meath concerts, located in the heart of the Boyne Valley, have somewhat dried up in recent years.

Prior to the former One Direction star, the last major musicians to play there were rock and heavy metal veterans, Metallica, more than half a decade ago.

However, the new lord of the manor, Alex Conyngham, is now looking to carry on where his father, Henry Mountcharles, left off in carrying on their live music legacy; and given that another legendary rock and roll band is pretty much anyone can talk about at the minute, their name has already been put forward.

As per the Drogheda Independent writer, John Kierans, Conyngham is reported to have said: “We want to bring the shows back, we miss them. It is not just about the revenue, but keeping the name of Slane as a rock venue on the map.

“It is what Slane Castle is known for, and I don’t want that legacy to fade away. This is one of the world’s great rock and roll venues with the most natural setting. We are working on plans, and hopefully we can pull something off for next year.”

While Oasis are due to play two nights at Croke Park in Dublin later this month, there is now a strong belief/expectation that a number of 2026 dates will also be announced. But will the stars align?

The Gallaghers’ obvious Irish connection has only added further fuel to the fire, though some people believe that Liam has already let the cat out of the bag regarding a second residency at Knebworth – or rather, third, in his case.

It’s also worth mentioning that they’ve played the 1,500-acre grounds before. Twice, in fact.

The first occasion was in July 1995, supporting R.E.M just before they hit arguably the height of their own powers with the release of their second album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? just a few months later, on 2 October.

Burnage‘s most famous sons and their bandmates go to do it all over again in 2009 (the same year they would eventually split up), with some incredible ‘warm-up acts’ in The Prodigy, Kasabian and Glasvegas.

Phwoar…

Let’s be honest, either of those artists could probably book and sell out the place these days, so god knows how much a ticket for that lineup would set you back present day.

Regardless, if there’s one band that fits the billing to bring back the Slane Castle gigs at their boldest and best, it’s the almighty Oasis.

Whether or not the heavily rumoured 2026 dates are domestic to the UK and Ireland, we’ll have to wait and see, but the clamour is already there, no matter where they sign on to perform.

If you were at Heaton Park or had the fortune of seeing any of the Live ’25 shows, you’ll know they still sound as good as ever.

Oasis are clearly doing something very deliberate for the as-yet-unconfirmed Live ’25 reunion album

Read more:

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Featured Images — Sitomon (via Flickr)/Kinsie84 (via Wikimedia Commons)/Press Shots

Audio

Drake at Co-op Live, Manchester: Forget ‘One Dance’ – we had many

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

Canadian hitmaker Drake graced Co-op Live in Manchester for the final night of the ‘Some Special Shows 4 UK’ tour with PartyNextDoor.

First song in and multi-hyphenate Drake is already feeling sentimental with ‘Gimme a Hug’ as he admits, “I appreciate the fans rockin’ with me / This is really just a small token.”

‘Marvin’s Room’ played out right after, and although the song prior references it as a favourite of “Durk’s boy”, this same love was shared between 23,500 fans in the crowd at Co-op Live last night. 

Shortly after, the Toronto-born rapper began the usual minute-long introduction of his gigantic single ‘Passionfruit’ with fans roaring as soon as he sang the long-awaited ‘Listen’.

Drake played out to 94,000 fans across four sold-out nights at Co-op Live in Manchester / Credit: The Manc Group
Drake played out to 94,000 fans across four sold-out nights at Co-op Live in Manchester / Credit: The Manc Group
Drake played out to 94,000 fans across four sold-out nights at Co-op Live in Manchester (Credit: Audio North)

Less than halfway through this stacked setlist, and it was time for the holy trinity of the night: ‘God’s Plan’, ‘In My Feelings’ and ‘Nice for What’ – nothing short of back-to-back bangers.

Fellow Canadian artist PartyNextDoor joined the self-proclaimed ‘Champagne Papi’ on stage to perform a medley of hits from their collaborative album ‘Some Sexy Songs 4 U’ next.

This R’n’B act made sure to play out his murky trap-fused number ‘No Chill’, and he squeezed in the equally melancholic melody ‘Somebody Loves Me’, too.

The pair may be promoting their joint LP but they took a second to squeeze in a throwback, matching each other’s energy while executing the 2016 collaboration ‘Come and See Me’.

Drake’s career is timeless, and the setlist proves just that as he delivers a rendition of one of his most recent successes, ‘Girls Want Girls’, followed by a track that laid the foundations of his career, ‘Fancy’.

Drake and PartyNextDoor for the 'Some Special Songs 4 UK' tour / Credit: The Manc Group
Drake and PartyNextDoor for the 'Some Special Songs 4 UK' tour / Credit: The Manc Group
Drake and PartyNextDoor for the ‘Some Special Songs 4 UK’ tour (Credit: The Manc)

Almost 30 songs deep and Drake still had fans reciting bars, verses and everything in between, and this continued as the two-time Brit award winner started 2023 anthem ‘Rich Baby Daddy’.

St. Louis rapper Sexyy Red wasn’t present for her renowned chant, but Manchester stepped up to the occasion, professing: “Hands on your knees, hands on your knees / Shake that *ss for Drake / Now shake that *ss for me”, verbatim.

It was only fair that the global rap titan finished with the setlist with two cellular-themed tracks, starting with the “You used to call me on my cell phone” number ‘Hotline Bling’ before the “Who’s callin’ my phone?” viral smash ‘Nokia’.

The setlist follows a very cyclical structure, as although Drake is known for his comical and cheeky persona on stage and online, deep down, the chart topper is very attentive.

Read more:

Ending on the ever-emotive ‘Yebba’s Heartbreak’ with lines like, “How much can I show my love for you?”, it’s safe to say this international act is feeling pretty grateful after seeing 94,000 fans show up and show out for him across four non-consecutive nights.

Drake may refer to himself as the ‘Champagne Papi’, but it’s the 23,500 fans who were popping bottles and raising a toast to the rap champ; the support for this musical act is ‘Nonstop’.

Co-op Live really is booking all the big names now.

We got to see a music legend from the best seats in the house – here’s how you can too
Might as well make the most of this incredible arena every chance we get.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images – The Manc Group

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