Manchester Pride 2022: underground parties, brunches and fringe events for your diary
Alongside the official parties, there are some great fringe events taking place across the city for Manchester Pride. (This article contains affiliate links)
Whilst the rest of the UK celebrates Pride month in June, here in Manchester we like to stretch it out all summer long – culminating with a huge celebration on the last weekend of August.
Every year, thousands come together for Manchester Pride to celebrate love in all its forms with a dazzling parade through the city and a weekend-long street party in the Gay Village.
Beyond that, there are loads more Pride parties and events in Manchester to discover.
From the decade-long queer club night Bollox, famed for its widely eclectic music policy, to The F*ck Pigs, an off-shoot of discontinued gutsy gothic club night Body Horror (featured in the 2019 Boiler Room short film Queer Raving in Manchester’s Twilight Zone), there’s somewhere for everyone to celebrate being themselves – if you know where to look, anyway.
This list will be regularly updated as new events become available.
Bollox Queer Pride
Image: Bollox
Image: Bollox
Cost: TBA
Date: 28 August
Promising ‘seven savagely proud hours of clubbing’, long-running queer night Bollox will return to its home at The Deaf Institute over the long August weekend for its annual Pride party.
Spanning all three floors of the venue, this hedonistic party consistently sells out – so don’t hang about on tickets.
Escape to Freight Island is going all-out this August bank holiday with five days of Pride parties bringing some of Manchester’s best queer selectors and performers to the fore.
Across the course of the long weekend, head down to catch sets from She’s in Control, Ghetto Fabulous & Mix-Stress, The Little Disco by La Discothèque, Homohangover and Homopicnic from the team at Homoelectric, plus a Pride family party with crafts, a raffle and more.
The free-of-charge Come as You are weekender at The Refuge is one of Manchester’s favourite Pride parties – going all-out with a range of performers and appearances from fabulous queens Cheddar Gorgeous and Liquorice Black.
This year’s event will feature headline sets from The Reflex and John Morales, alongside support from The Hush Club, Julie Willis, Jimmy Turnbull, Supernature Disco, Sticky Heat, The Colonel and Steve Conrey – all flaunting the energy and unity that Pride brings to the Manchester LGBTQA+ community.
With an all-trans, non-binary and POC line-up featuring some of Manchester’s best-known queer artists and Influencers, this new Inclusive 90’s style techno rave sounds like it will be a blast.
Organised by male gogo dancer Ali after he noticed an absence of trans, NB and POC working in venues in and around the Gay Village, it will bring together trans influencers and models, non-binary performance artists and DJs at one of Manchester’s most iconic venues.
With sets from Meme Gold and ‘This Guy DJ’ who plays at some of Manchester’s coolest raves, plus a 5,000mw laser show, this is definitely one to put on your list.
A host of pride events come to Kampus this bank holiday, running from Thursday to Sunday. Saturday afternoon sees the return of LOVE PARTY in the bungalow from 2 – 10pm.
Returning to party in the Kampus Bungalow and gardens, once again the line-up is stacked full of local queer talent including Kiss Me Again, Good Afternoon, Love Party resident Thom Docking and the return of Pumping Iron to Manchester.
Elsewhere across the weekend, there’ll be a BarkPRIDE fancy dress dog show in the gardens on Friday and an Ancoats Pop-Up market on Sunday.
Drop The Mic and Queersat the Old Abbey Taphouse
Cost: From £7 Date: 25 August
Image: Queers in Manchester
Image: Queers in Manchester
Manchester-based arts communities Drop The Mic and Queers In MCR are hosting a Pride Celebration Event at The Old Abbey Taphouse in aid of the LGBT Foundation, featuring an incredible lineup of LGBTQ+ poets, musicians and DJs, as well as a queer art exhibition.
The night will include a special DJ set from an icon of the Manchester queer scene Jess Rosa, a ferocious performance from all non-binary punk band Taurine and a beautiful visual arts presentation entitled ‘Queer Joy’ curated by the illustrious Mr E.
‘Freedom to Be’ parties with Gok Wan at Ducie Street Warehouse
Cost: Free
Date: 20 August
Image: DSW
Image: DSW
Ducie Street Warehouse kicks of its new ‘Freedom to Be’ party series with a free-to-attend dance featuring a DJ set from the one and only Gok Wan.
Kicking off from 5pm until late, the warehouse will welcome the sensational national presenter and DJ Gok Wan with a supporting set from Manchester queer collective Queer Latifah.
The party then continues on August Bank Holiday weekend with spectacular BIG disco brunches, plus an all-weekend line-up featuring some of Manchester’s best DJs and performers including The Niallist, High Hoops, Ghetto Fabulous, Girls On Film and Fat Camp.
Sonata will celebrate Manchester Pride with an intimate cabaret of classic hits and musical theatre, with a headline set from Nicole Faraday (Bad Girls, Casualty, Emmerdale) on Saturday night, well known for her portrayal of Eva Cassidy in Over the Rainbow.
Sunday night will feature an performance of the award-winning Bette: Bathhouse to Broadway!, a loving tribute to the life and career of Bette Midler. Elsewhere, Friday will bring jazz and musical theatre cabaret from Vivienne Lynsey.
Cottonopolis
Cost: Bottomless brunch from £30
Date: 27 August
Cottonopolis will hold a special bottomless drag brunch in honour of Pride. Hosted by queens Narcissa Nightshade and Lilly Snatchdragon, there will be a free Cirôc Vodka cocktail on arrival for those who pre-book. As for the food, think sushi rolls, rice poke bowls, stuffed baos and Japanese toast.
The party then extends across the weekend with sets from Queer Latiffa, Deb Jump, Mixtress, Joy Social, Laura Jackson, DJ Duckdown, and J’Adora.
Running from 11am – 3pm across the long weekend, Salford gastropub The Black Friar has created a one off brunch menu in honour of Manchester Pride.
For £35, you’ll get 90 minutes of non-stop fizz and lager, plus a brunch dish of your choice. £2 will be donated to LGBTQ+ Youth Charity AKT.
Image: Supplied
Keller Queens at The Bierkeller
Cost: Free entry
Date: 26 August
Darling diva Dame Fanny De Faux will be joined by sensational starlets for a special Pride event at The Bierkeller. Expect a ‘lashtastic evening of live performance, games, giveaways, high jinks and gratuitous gorgeousness.’
Manchester
What we know about Oasis’ Heaton Park reunion shows based on their first comeback gig in Cardiff
Danny Jones
Ok, so there’s no more need to pinch ourselves or double-take every time we check our phone: Oasis aren’t just back together, they’ve now kicked off the reunion and following those incredible Cardiff scenes, we’re already thinking about what this means for their Heaton Park homecoming.
There simply isn’t a brick-and-mortar Manchester venue big enough to hold as many Manc fans as want, need and deserve to see them back on stage after waiting all this time, so it’s only fitting that barely a month on from Parklife, the massive outdoor space will welcome us all back to witness history.
Quite literally millions of people tuned into various livestreams on Friday evening to see Oasis return at the Principality Stadium, so lots of you will have already seen plenty from the colossal concert – including that bald bloke balancing a pint on his head – but there was, understandably, a lot to take in.
So, with that being said, here’s what we hope, we think, we know about Oasis’ highly anticipated Heaton Park shows based solely on the details we gleaned from Cardiff night one.
The timings (roughly)
For starters, one of the most important things fans will be hoping to know is when Oasis got back on stage, as well as the set times of the other ‘Live ’25‘ support acts.
Liam, as per usual, was the mouthier of the two Gallagher brothers and let the cat out of the bag early on X (Twitter), before being clearly told off by management and deleting the details shortly after; still, it was confirmed that the main event for Friday and Saturday night gets underway at 8:15pm.
However, these things are always subject to change, as both Richard Aschroft and Cast were slightly premature on night one in Cardiff, and who knows what other arenas will be like for the rest of the reunion tour?
Another big debate online that has raged ever since the Oasis reunion was confirmed is the subject of what they’re going to play from their extensive catalogue.
Obviously, most people could rattle off most of the all-time favourites and cobbble together a pretty decent ‘greatest hits’ of Oasis setlist, but people have been more concerned with what the opener, closing track, and encore will be.
Having watched all of these moments back multiple times already, we can confirm the first track was not the old intro, ‘F***in’ in the Bushes’, as many suspected, but ‘Hello’, rather fittingly.
As for the last track in the main running order, the crowd got to bounce up and down to ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ before the legendary ‘Champagne Supernova’ beckoned the very end of the first night in Cardiff.
— The Rock Revival (@TheRockRevival_) July 4, 2025
They’ll still be reactive
That being said, this inaugural comeback show was somewhat of a pilot for the rest of the ‘Live ’25 world tour, which now totals more than 40 dates, and any good artist knows that tweaking the setlist from show to show can be key to not only to success, but keeping things fresh for you and the audience.
As a result, we wouldn’t be surprised if you see Oasis mix things up as the nights roll on, especially when playing multiple gigs in the same city as they’re doing pretty much everywhere for this reunion.
That flexibility isn’t just limited to song choice either: Liam did his famous twist on the ‘Wonderwall’ lyrics and told the crowd, “There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don’t speak Welsh”, and in case you haven’t seen it already, they also took a moment to honour a late Liverpool star.
There were lots of little details on night one in Cardiff, but this was a very nice touch from Oasis.
A bigger focus on production than ever
The glimpse at the AV presentation seen above is just a small taster too. From the various clips we’ve seen on social media over the last 24 hours or so, Oasis aren’t just back playing music together, but they’ve levelled significantly in terms of production and stage design.
Now, if you’ve ever been to see either of the brothers’ solo shows, you’ll know that football and, more specifically, references to Man City, often feature at some point.
Noel, in particular, has maintained a strong City presence in his set, be it the blue colour palette, the MCFC badge, or even a tall cut-out of manager Pep Guardiola half during most High Flying Birds gigs.
Cardiff night one was no different as his LG instructed the crowd to turn around and do the familiar ‘Poznan’ celebration regularly seen up in the stands of the Etihad Stadium.
Gallagher brothers kick off Oasis world tour with Cardiff show, as Liam tells fans 'do the poznan'.
It was bits of comedy like this that’s been one of the biggest part we’ve missed about Oasis; both Liam and Noel have always been very humorous in their own ways over the years, but they were never funnier than in those old clips you see of them cracking each other up in their younger days.
Despite being estranged for more than a decade and a half and who knows how many years of bad blood overall, they look to have at least put it to one side and what was once a combative back and forth from a distance has circled back around to brotherly banter – or at least we hope it has.
We’re not going to pretend they absolutely adore all of a sudden, but they’re at least trying and recognising each other’s roles.
As you can see, those snaps of them smiling during the first reunion photo shoot back together don’t appear to be just for show.
Seeing the two of them walk out holding hands sent the internet into an absolute frenzy of emotion and had people joking that they were finally going to message their own troublesome relative and at least try to mend fences.
But that was just one small moment.
The duo have always admired and respected their respective talents, but for the first time in even longer than the 16-year hiatus itself, it seems like there’s some genuine love there again. See for yourself:
They’re still as massive as they ever were – if not more so
All this is to say that, in short, Oasis’ first comeback show in Cardiff isn’t just the start of the ‘Live ’25 reunion tour that will span the globe, it’s also confirmation of something people began to question in their lengthy absence…
They really are the biggest and, in so many people’s opinions (including our own), the greatest rock band of all time.
From what we can tell, it feels like one of those watershed music moments where you have be there in person to truly see and believe it – not to be part of some exclusive ‘I was there’ comeback, but because we can’t thing of any other reunion that has had this kind of impact.
Roll on the five nights at Heaton Park and strap in, folks, because you will never forget it.
I've never felt so excited about a gig I didn't even have a ticket for! I'm so glad you had a great time, the clips I've seen looked INCREDIBLE.
Featured Images — Oasis (via X)/Finnlay K (via Instagram)
Manchester
Grassroots music venue The Yard announces new outdoor festival – and it’s got a great name
Thomas Melia
City centre grassroots music venue The Yard has just announced its new outdoor festival, where you can expect lots of impressive local live music.
Independent and grassroots music venue, The Yard, is known for hosting some of the best gigs, creative events and live music in the city, and this festival is no different.
Titled ‘Stranger Ways’ – if you don’t get that reference, then we don’t know what to tell you – anyone attending can expect to hear music that champions Manchester’s indie spirit, with a lot of local talent represented in the lineup.
Alex Spencer is set to headline day one of Stranger Ways Festival.The Yard is a brilliant venue known for hosting a variety of live music events.Credit: Supplied
This talent has seen praise from the likes of Lady Gaga and The Coral, even getting his track ‘Nightmares’ featured in EA Sports FC25 (FIFA).
They’ve seen massive success this year playing at the Isle of Wight Festival earlier this summer and supporting ‘Every Breath You Take’ penman Sting in Cardiff.
Another of our picks for Manc artists of the month for June, Arkayla. Named after “a terrible Oasis demo” from 1991, the band will be stopping by to sing a couple of their hits, too.
The band are already making waves, quite literally, receiving plays from one of the biggest rock radio stations in the UK, Radio X.
Wigan band The Lilacs are set to headline day two of Stranger Ways Festival.Arkayla are one of the headliners for The Yard’s new outdoor festival.Credit: Supplied
And of course this festival falls during Oasis’ massive reunion tour, so it would be rude not to have a tribute act, or two, performing at this outdoor festival – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Carpets and The Oasis Experience.
Now, as far as tribute bands go, that’s up there with one of the best and quietly clever names we’ve heard since we came across, well… Stranger Ways.
Speaking of Oasis, every ticket purchased for The Yard’s outdoor festival, Stranger Ways, gets entered into a prize draw to win tickets for one of the Burnage boys’ Wembley gigs with an overnight stay.
Stranger Ways Festival is taking place at The Yard across 19 and 20 July – To access the full lineup and grab your tickets, you can find everything you need to know HERE.
Anyone who has managed to bag themselves those precious Oasis tickets is in luck too, as if you can show proof on arrival to The Yard, you can guarantee yourself free entry.
Georgina Pellant -
18th August 2022 
