Manchester Pride has revealed the theme for this year’s legendary Parade, and it’s set to celebrate “the power of love”.
A week after it was announced that tickets to the popular Gay Village Party had gone live, and with the charity aiming to encourage people to show love to ourselves and the LGBTQ+ community, Manchester Pride has revealed that the theme for the 2023 Parade will be celebrating love in the 10th anniversary year of marriage equality.
Titled ‘Queerly Beloved’, the Parade will see the city’s streets become awash with colour and celebration on Saturday 26 August.
🌈MANCHESTER PRIDE PARADE🌈
Join us at the Parade on Sat 26th Aug 2023 as we march loudly and proudly through the streets of Manchester, celebrating our progress and protesting for LGBTQ+ liberation in a kaleidoscope of queer joy and colour🌟
The Parade is always one of the festival’s most highly-anticipated events every year, as people march proudly together through the streets of Manchester in front of tens of thousands of supporters cheering them along the way.
The charity says the 2023 Pride Parade theme has been chosen to mark the 10th anniversary of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act being passed on 17 July 2013 – which enabled civil partners to convert their partnership to a marriage, if they wish.
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It also gave individuals the option to change their legal gender without having to end their marriage.
Manchester Pride reveals theme for 2023’s Parade celebrating ‘the power of love’ / Credit: Manchester Pride
Manchester Pride CEO Mark Fletcher says the charity is “very excited” about this year’s Parade theme, explaining that: “Queerly Beloved celebrates the wins for the LGBTQ+ community but also poses the question – how far have we really come?
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“We will be marching for love, and our message is clear – our love is powerful, our love is resistance, and love should be celebrated for all.”
The Manchester Pride Parade route this year is set to start on Liverpool Road, before passing by the Town Hall and through Gay Village, and finishing on Whitworth Street.
Hundreds of young LGBTQ+ people – including the charity’s own Youth Pride MCR group and their allies – lead the Parade through the city last year, but this year, it’s expected that even more will join the celebrations, which is why Manchester Pride says it is “actively encouraging” walking entries in an aim to make the Festival “even more environmentally-friendly”.
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The city’s streets will become awash with colour once again this August Bank Holiday weekend / Credit: Manchester Pride
As always, Manchester Pride Festival 2023 takes place over four days in Manchester city centre on August Bank Holiday weekend (25-28 August), and is made up of several fringe events that all provide opportunities to advocate for LGBTQ+ equality, engage families and young people, and to celebrate queer arts and culture.
All events are free to attend, with the exception of the Gay Village Party – which tickets are available for now here.
£2.50 from every ticket will be donated to the Manchester Pride Community Fund, with the money going directly to LGBTQ+ causes and projects in Greater Manchester through the distribution of grants.
Fancy taking part in this year’s Pride Parade? Find out more and apply here.
Featured Image – Manchester Pride
News
Full list of road closures set to be in place for Manchester Day 2024
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Day is back for 2024 this weekend, and the full list of road closures set to be in place has been confirmed.
Now that schools are officially out across Greater Manchester, and the summer holidays are well and truly here, the hugely-popular Manchester Day is making a return once again this Saturday 27 July, and as always, it’s set to be “the day summer officially starts” in the city centre – with a massive celebration of “all things Mancunian” on the cards.
The theme of this year’s annual event is ‘Let The Games Begin’, and it’s inspired by the international summer of sport, just 2024 Olympics kicks off over in Paris.
The day will be packed full of free events and activities to get involved with.
Some city centre roads will be closed on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 July for Manchester Day.
These will include:
🛣️Deansgate 🛣️St Ann Street 🛣️St Mary’s Gate 🛣️Market Street 🛣️King Street
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) July 21, 2024
But of course, in order for the all the fun to go ahead as safely as possible, and as tends to be the case for events like these, Manchester City Council says it will need to make some temporary road closures to facilitate it.
The full list of road closures has now been confirmed by the Council, and there’s some major city centre thoroughfares set to be out of action.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Manchester Day is back for 2024 to celebrate the international summer of sport / Credit: Manchester City Council
Manchester Day 2024 – Road Closures
Saturday 27 July
From 6am to 11:59pm, Manchester City Council has confirmed that the following roads will be closed:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street) – access will be maintained to Marks and Spencer’s car park and Number One Deansgate.
St Ann Street (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street (Cross Street to Deansgate) – no access for deliveries.
All accessible bays, bus lanes, and taxi ranks within the closed areas will also be suspended during from 6pm on Friday 26 July to 11:59pm on Saturday 27 July.
The parking suspensions set to be in place are:
Deansgate (Manchester Cathedral to John Dalton Street)
St Ann Street – including the bays outside St Ann’s Church (Deansgate to Cross Street)
St Mary’s Gate (Exchange Street to Deansgate)
St Mary’s Street (Southbridge Street to Deansgate)
Southgate (St Mary’s Street to King Street West)
Market Street (Exchange Street to Cross Street)
Fennel Street (Corporation Street to Cathedral Street) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cathedral Street (Fennel Street to Exchange Square) – access will be maintained for morning deliveries only.
Cateaton Street (Exchange Square to Deansgate)
Victoria Street (Cathedral Approach to Deansgate)
Todd Street (Corporation Street to Station Approach)
King Street (Spring Gardens to Southgate)
South King Street (Ridgefield to Deansgate)
Barton Square (St Ann’s Square to St Ann Street)
King Street West (Deansgate to St Mary’s Parsonage)
St James’s Square (John Dalton Street to South King Street)
Cross Street (King Street to Corporation Street)
Museum Street (Peter Street to Windmill Street)
Marsden Street (Cheapside to Brown Street)
Manchester Day 2024: Let The Games Begin! will take over the city centre on Saturday 27 July from 12pm-6pm.
Check out everything you need to know ahead of the event here.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete
Emily Sergeant
Work currently underway on the Rochdale via Oldham line is expected to take several weeks to complete.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has confirmed that land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has now “slowed”, and this means that detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works have been able to get underway.
In order for trams to run again on the crucial line from the city centre to the two major Greater Manchester towns, TfGM says that a small section of track has to be moved back – also known as ‘slewed’ – into its original position.
The overhead line poles also need to be repaired too, the transport operator revealed.
Rochdale line update
Land movement affecting the Metrolink network near Derker has slowed, enabling detailed ground investigations and temporary repair works to get underway.
To get trams running again, a small section of track has to be moved back into its original position… pic.twitter.com/byERjitdi1
Unfortunately though, due to the “complex” nature of these works, and despite the fact that TfGM says it’s actively looking to “accelerate” the repairs, the project is expected to take up to five weeks to complete in full.
On top of this, the detailed ground investigations will also establish whether any further work to strengthen foundations beneath the track will be needed at a later date.
TfGM has apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers.
‘Complex’ Metrolink repairs to the Rochdale via Oldham line could take weeks to complete / Credit: TfGM
Speaking on the scale of works currently underway, and how long he expects them to continue for, Pete Sommers, who is TfGM’s Network Director for Metrolink, said: “I’m sorry for the impact this is having, and will continue to have, on people’s journeys.
“We are working to get trams running through the area again, but this remains a complex and challenging issue and it could still be a few weeks before this happens.
“We will of course keep passengers updated, and I’d encourage people to check our social media channels and website for the latest information and advice.”