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Richard Richard - 10th August 2022

Manchester Pride WILL return for 2026, including the parade and party

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Manchester Pride WILL return for 2026, including the parade and party

Manchester Pride will be returning to the city this summer, complete with the legendary parade, a party in the Gay Village, and the annual candlelit vigil.

The LGBTQ+ celebration’s future had been thrown into doubt following the collapse of the Manchester Pride Events Ltd company last year.

But now it’s been announced that the beloved event will return, delivered by a not-for-profit, Community Interest Company with a board of unpaid directors. t

Every pound of profit will go to supporting LGBTQ+ charities, grassroots organisations and community services.

Manchester Village Pride will have the backing of key partners including Manchester City Council, Marketing Manchester, Cityco and Equity, alongside LGBTQ+ organisations, charities and community stakeholders.

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Plans are now in place for Pride to return over August Bank Holiday weekend again, between Friday 28 and Monday 31 August.

Over four days, Mancs will be able to gather together for the parade, the Village party, and the vigil, plus a vibrant Pride Fringe of arts, culture and nightlife events.

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Manchester Village Party has received £120,000 from village venues, reflecting the determination of local LGBTQ+ businesses to safeguard Pride and ensure it remains rooted in the community which created it.

Carl Austin-Behan, one of the founding board members and spokesperson for Manchester Village Pride CIC, said: “Manchester Village Pride is built around a simple belief. Pride has a home – and that home is the Village – but Pride belongs to everyone.

“This is a really exciting time for our community. We have a chance to start again. 2026 is a year of rebuilding, reestablishing trust, reconnecting with Pride’s origins and reinforcing the role of the Village as the heart of the celebration.

“From 2027 onwards MVP plans to develop a wider programme of citywide activity around Pride.

“Bringing Pride home to the Village is about more than location. It is a commitment to responsibility: paying artists properly, funding community groups, supporting charities, protecting LGBTQ+ heritage – and building a sustainable future for Pride in Manchester.”

Deputy Council Leader Cllr Garry Bridges said: “Pride is vital for Manchester, as a symbol of our welcoming and inclusive city, a chance to celebrate our LGBTQ+ communities and to highlight injustices which still exist.

“The Council have always been clear that Pride must happen this year. Manchester Village Pride came to us with a strong and credible plan which we are happy to support. Who better to organise our city’s Pride than the people who work with our LGBTQ+ communities all year round?”

Rachel Bottomley, Managing Director of the LGBT Foundation, said: “We’re proud to stand alongside Manchester Village Pride as it rebuilds a celebration shaped by and for the community. This renewed focus on community and transparency is an opportunity to ensure LGBTQ+ people across Greater Manchester feel supported, represented, and empowered. We look forward to playing our part in continuing to spread hope and joy, with our Village Angels helping keep people safe over the Manchester Village Pride weekend.”

Darren Knight, Chief Executive of George House Trust, said: “George House Trust’s history is built on the passion and determination of Greater Manchester’s LGBTQ+ community. For the last 40 years, the August Bank Holiday weekend in Manchester has been about inclusion, voice and making life better for people! Everyone at George House Trust is proud to stand in solidarity to ensure that for 2026 and beyond, there’s no change in that.Pride has always been, and will always be, for everyone.

“It’s great to see this community response and we hope we see you at the vigil.”

Karen Lockney, Equity’s North West Official said: “Equity is delighted that Manchester Village Pride will be signing an Equity agreement – the first ever UK union agreement for a Pride event. Not only will this guarantee fair pay and professional industry standards for all performers, but it also provides the workers of a Manchester Village Pride with a meaningful dialogue and a say over the terms of their work.

“Pride events fight for the rights of the LGBT+ community and that must include workers’ rights. We hope other Pride organisations will follow Manchester Village Pride’s fantastic example. This is testament to the work of members of Equity’s Drag Network, staff, and Equity members in the Village and our Greater Manchester branch.

“We have consistently called for unionised terms and conditions for Pride, and this positive development will restore the trust of our members in the event. They can be confident they will be paid and treated fairly in future. These are exciting developments, part of giving Manchester the Pride it deserves. An Equity Pride agreement is something for which the city should be truly proud.”

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Interview | Chatting with Tim Burgess before he chats to Mancunians on their doorstep

Danny Jones Danny Jones

In case you hadn’t heard, local music legend Tim Burgess is coming back to the AO Arena right here in Manchester this February for another intimate evening following the success of his last visit.

Set to include not only an interview but live stripped-back performances as well as Q&A, it’s your chance to see one of our region’s most famous musical sons up close and personal.

Returning for a candid and eye-opening sitdown with local DJ and radio host and Northern music champion, Chris Hawkins, it’s sure to be a special night.

Before posting up in The Mezz (which you can still grab tickets for), we had the honour of interviewing Salford’s very own Tim Burgess ourselves. Here’s what he had to say ahead of the event…

So you’ve returned to the AO again for another intimate gig. What do you love most about these smaller, conversational evenings compared to traditional gigs?

“Live events just have a connection with an audience that no remote link, AI or recording could ever match. From arriving and running through a soundcheck, meeting the arena team and catching up with Chris Hawkins, it all builds up to when the audience comes in.

“Chris and I don’t plan what he’s going to ask, so it’s all on the spot – nothing’s recorded, so you never know what might get said.

“Chris is a fantastic interviewer, and I get to meet everyone over the merch table at the end; I don’t get that at a Charlatans show – they are brilliant, and the tour we did in December was a brilliant experience for all of us.

“Maybe I prefer my bandmates being there when it comes to playing the songs, but it’s a chance for an audience to hear them in a way that they probably haven’t heard them before.

For anyone who hasn’t been to a Q&A-Sides show before, how would you describe the experience?

It’s a brilliantly informal night out – the chance to hear some of the stories behind the songs and 35 years’ worth of recording and touring adventures – plus a few songs with me and a guitar, and maybe a harmonica involved too.

“I’ve chatted to lots of people after the shows, and they always say it was a fantastic insight and that they loved the songs – then I realise they’re talking to me and they’d probably just say that anyway.”

Are there any particular songs that really shine in this stripped-back setting?

“You get to hear them as many of them were written. Particularly, the songs that Mark [Collins] and I came up with – it would usually just be me singing and him with an acoustic guitar, so it’s back to how they originally sounded. 

“I’ve got quite a back catalogue of songs I’ve learned, so I’ll maybe keep them a bit secret. Suffice to say, there will be a few Charlatans’ classics, absolutely.”

When you look back on your career so far, are there any moments that feel especially meaningful to share in a setting like this?

“Our audience has grown up with us – lots were teenagers when we started, and I was in my early twenties. We’ve shared moments of grief, triumph, elation and tragedy – it’s just that ours were done in the cauldron of touring and recording with sometimes the eyes of the world on us.

“At times, it’s not been easy, but life will have been tough for our fans too. Chris is brilliant at making it seem like it’s just the two of us, and nothing is off limits – then you might say something funny and two hundred people laugh, and you snap back to realising it’s not the two of us talking in a pub.”

You’ve met and worked with so many iconic artists – are there any stories that always get a great reaction when you tell them live?

“I suppose there are some fairly iconic times – lots of people in the audience would have been at Knebworth when we played there with Oasis. Our situation was made all the more poignant as Rob Collins had died shortly before the show, and we weren’t even sure if we would play.

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“It was a real existential moment for us – then there are funny stories of doing Top Of The Pops with a dressing room opposite The Smurfs. A lot has happened in those three and a half decades… 

Being a Salford lad yourself, what do you think it is that makes a Manchester crowd so special?

I’m biased, but up until the band started, all my greatest moments happened in and around Manchester, and I was part of that crowd, whether watching [Man] United, seeing a band or losing yourself on the dancefloor of a club.

There’s a sense of feeling at home – there’s a BIG, beautiful world out there, and maybe we won’t tell the Midlands contingent in The Charlatans, but Manchester is always a homecoming for us.

Once again, if you fancy grabbing a last-minute ticket for ‘Tim Burgess – Live and In Conversation’ on Sunday, 8 February, there are still a few available.

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The show starts from 7pm, and you can secure your seat right HERE.

Sounds From The Other City releases 2026 lineup with 100+ acts playing on 17 stages across Salford
Tim’s childhood town has got plenty of its own exciting stuff on this year, too.

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Featured Images — AO Arena (supplied)

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