One of the biggest highlights in Manchester’s events calendar, Manchester Pride 2025, is ready to take over the city centre for the party of a lifetime.
Manchester Pride 2025 is upon us, and we’ve got everything you need ahead of this fun-filled, glitter-covered, disco-driven big weekend.
This event isn’t just a party – it’s a spectacular coming together of a community who aim to spread love and joy through various celebrations, with glorious music from some truly incredible artists and acts to look forward to.
The four-day occasion consists of a city-wide parade, a lineup of music performances, and closed out by a poignant candlelit vigil which each year commemorates members of the Queer community who sadly lost their lives to HIV.
Here’s everything you need to know about Manchester Pride 2025.
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Here’s everything you need to know about Manchester Pride 2025 / Credit: Supplied
Manchester Pride 2025 – Parade
The parade on Saturday 23 August will start on Deansgate near Beetham Tower at 12pm, before making its way onto Liverpool Road and Oxford Street.
This route then sees the parade make its way onto Portland Street and Princess Stree, before finishing off on Whitworth Street and Fairfield Street – a stone’s throw away from Mardi Gras.
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Check back soon for all the information you need to do about Parade route road closures.
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Tickets for Manchester Pride Festival 2025
There are two options for tickets if you’re looking at attending Manchester Pride Festival 2025.
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If you’re after dancing the night away to an impressive live music lineup at Mardi Gras and continuing the night at the Gay Village Party, then you can buy a ticket which covers you for both HERE.
Anyone who’s after boogying til the sun comes up at the Gay Village Party, but skipping the live music can bag themselves a ticket or two HERE.
Crowds at Manchester Pride Festival on Canal Street / Credit: Supplied
Once you’ve purchased your preferred ticket, you can trade them in for your official Manchester Pride Festival 2025 wristband at two city centre locations.
The first box office can be found at Depot Mayfield – where Mardi Gras is taking place – and will be open from 12pm to 7pm on Saturday 23 August, and 12:30pm to 7pm on Sunday 24 August.
An alternative box office can be found in the Gay Village, which will be open across all three dates Friday 23, Saturday 24, and Sunday 25 August from 12pm to 11pm.
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Who’s on the lineup at Manchester Pride 2025?
Four huge names are fronting the bill for Manchester Pride 2025 – with each and every one of them being a certified hitmaker.
Saturday’s lineup sees a headline slot for former Little Mix star, now solo sensation, Leigh-Anne, who will be playing discography classics like ‘Don’t Say Love’, ‘My Love’, and her latest single ‘Been A Minute’.
Broadway star and highly-successful artist, Billy Porter, joins the pop princess and Manchester’s biggest festivals of the year, and you best believe he’ll make ‘Everybody Say Yeah’.
UK Eurovision entry and certified ‘Sweet Talker’, Olly Alexander, is playing out a selection of bangers on Sunday’s lineup, and he’s ready to ‘Shine’ to his heart’s content.
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Nelly Furtado completes the headline slots – and yes I did ‘Say It Right’ – as the ‘Maneater’ herself was recently announced as the surprise headliner to close out Sunday’s celebrations.
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How to get to Manchester Pride Festival 2025?
Transport to Manchester Pride Festival 2025 / Credit: TfGM
By tram – The easiest way to get to and from Manchester Pride Festival is using Metrolink. The nearest stops are Piccadilly Gardens (for the Gay Village Party), and Deansgate-Castlefield or St Peter’s Square (for the Parade).
By train – The closest train stations to the event are Manchester Piccadilly or Oxford Road.
By bus – Take a bus to Manchester Piccadilly Gardens. From there, the Gay Village Party event site is a two-minute walk and just across the road.
By plane – From Manchester Airport, you can take a train or the Metrolink tram to Manchester Piccadilly. Alternatively, you can take a bus to Piccadilly Gardens from the airport.
By car – Manchester will be very busy with a number of road closures in place over Manchester Pride weekend, so if you really need to drive, you might want to look at using a ‘park and ride’ and completing your journey by tram.
30 years ago, the IRA detonated a 1,500kg lorry bomb on Corporation Street in the heart of Manchester – here’s the story
Georgina Pellant
Today marks three whole decades since an explosion from the inside of a lorry parked on Corporation Street shattered windows and destroyed buildings across the city centre.
Causing an evisceration that stretched for miles, when the 1,500 kilogram IRA bomb went off in 1996, it was the biggest detonation in Great Britain since the Second World War.
Following the explosion, the city fell silent – leaving rack, rubble and ruin in its wake. Famously, one red post box was left standing – today fitted with a memorial plaque in remembrance of the tragedy.
It seems scary to think that back then, most people could only stand there, watch on and worry.
The bomb caused an estimated £700 million worth of damage to Manchester’s infrastructure and economy, and over a quarter of a century later, locals still tell the stories of where they were when it went off – and of the devastation it left behind.
Notably, one resident of the Cromford Court maisonettes on top of the Arndale – a 77-year-old RAF veteran suffering from the flu – didn’t even bother to get up when the telephone warning to evacuate hit, considering himself to have survived much worse feats during his time in military service.
Having been a rear gunner in a Lancaster in the war, he reportedly told police and authorities “he was buggered if he was going to let a small bomb affect him.”
In subsequent years, Danny O’Neill has become a part of an urban legend surrounding the bomb as his staggering story has been told time and time again.
Around 90 minutes prior to the detonation, the Provisional Irish Republican Army had telephoned in warnings – meaning that around 75,000 people were able to be evacuated from the area before the bomb went off from the back of a van.
However, the bomb squad were unable to defuse it in time, leading to over 200 injuries from people still left in the area.
Thankfully, despite those injuries, there were no fatalities, and many of those reported traumas came from the shattering of thousands of windows and other damage to buildings in which unsuspecting people were getting on with their days.
Several buildings near the explosion were damaged beyond repair and had to be demolished, while many more were closed for months for structural repairs, and this prompted the biggest regeneration of Manchester city centre ever – something that is still continuing to this day, arguably at a more rapid rate than ever.
The city lay dormant for days after the explosion, as people came to terms with what had happened and kept their distance. Many moved out of the centre for a period of time, while many more simply decided not to visit for fear of another incident.
It was a desolate place, eerily quiet, and in need of some serious TLC.
According to Home Office statistics, an estimated 400 businesses within half a mile (0.8 km) of the 1996 blast were affected, 40% of which did not recover.
Credit: Manchester Libraries
Market Street – near the explosion and at that time the second-busiest shopping street in the UK – was considered by some a “fearful” place, and one that was to be “avoided like the plague”.
The prospect of pulling Manchester’s bustling city centre out of its darkest depression was not casually approached by those in charge.
It was acknowledged as a mammoth task from the get-go, but Greater Manchester has never let anything get in its way. Despite how steep the hill is that we’re standing at the base of, we always manage to reach the peak, ready to go again.
Gig review | Lola Young’s Manchester comeback – A joyous return to stage at the O2 Apollo Manchester
Kristen MacGregor-Houlston
The excitement in the air is palpable in the O2 Apollo Manchester, the crowd is itching for her to make her way onto stage and is chanting her name – Manchester has missed you, Lola Young.
After an extended hiatus since she collapsed at the All Things Go festival in New York last September, Lola is back on a short tour to find her feet again. Whilst Manchester isn’t officially the first show, it is the headline performance for her comeback.
Lola’s break had come at a pivotal moment, with her third studio album, I’m Only F***ing Myself (2025), earning huge acclaim, performances across the globe, and endorsements from the likes of Elton John for her talent.
After cancelling all of her shows ‘for the foreseeable future’, Lola asked fans for their forgiveness, writing in an emotional statement: “I really hope you’ll give me a second chance once I’ve had some time to work on myself and come back stronger.”
Tough to handle for anyone, let alone a young rising artist.
It was clear to everyone that her hard work on herself had paid off, as this was a different Lola Young from the one I saw at Glastonbury last year: there was a calmness to her – she seemed more centred and more confident.
That calmness, however, did not mean a lacklustre performance: she is still a powerhouse; her stage presence is just magnetic, and it is clear to see how loved she is by her fans. The energy in the room didn’t falter the entire time she was on stage.
She kicked things off with ‘Sad Sob Story’, a song about moving on from a toxic relationship, which seemed fitting as she steps away from the drama and difficulties of last year into a fresh start. A wall-shaking opening number that set the scene for what was to follow with the rest of the show.
As part of her healing journey, Young stated that she has decided to write something special and specific for each show to tell herself if she’s worried or doubting her ability.
She shared her Manchester mantra with us: “When you are connected, when you express what you feel is true to you, when you open yourself up and share your very unique experience, remember you are electric… Those who want to listen will lean in, no matter your volume.”
Although she was clearly introspecting, she was also speaking to her audience, her fans, and expressing gratitude for them still being there. Shouts of support echoed out through the venue, her fans truly loving and supporting her as they have since day one, perhaps more so than ever.
Her performances of songs like ‘Big Brown Eyes’, ‘Not Like That Anymore’ and ‘Conceited’, showed just how much fun Lola was having on stage, being back and being surrounded by people who truly loved her.
At times, the crowd were singing along so loudly and passionately that she laughed and told the audience, “I can’t even hear myself in my own ears.” She had to occasionally take moments to step back and take it all in, seemingly overwhelmed with joy at the outpouring of love being reflected back to her.
Her band were also a stand-out, sharing in her energy and passion. It is clear that Young and her band could easily fill huge arenas with their talent and fervour, but this more intimate venue just seemed correct.
Lola continued to prove throughout the night why she was so deserving of her BRIT Award for ‘Breakthrough Artist of the Year’, and her Grammy nominations for ‘Best New Artist’ and ‘Best Pop Solo Performance’.
Her vocal talent, emotional depth and electric stage presence were showcased in songs like ‘why do i feel better when i hurt you?’, ‘Post Sex Clarity’ and the incredible ‘You Noticed’, showing an extremely vulnerable side to her that had many audience members tearing up.
We saw all sides of Young during this show, with her iconic songs ‘One Thing’, ‘d£aler’ and ‘Messy’ practically blasting the roof off of the O2 Apollo Manchester.
The fans could hardly contain themselves, screaming the lyrics back at her – it was truly a night to remember for everyone.
With another night in Manchester due to popular demand, Lola promised to be back soon. Could it be a bigger tour, bigger venues, new music?
Who knows, but for now we’re just glad to see her healthy and have her back in our lives again.
Thomas Melia -
20th August 2025 
