One of the biggest events in Greater Manchester’s cultural calendar is almost upon us, as the city gears up for Manchester Pride Festival 2024.
From the glittering parade that attracts thousands to the city centre, to the live music and performances on the stages in the Gay Village, and on to the nightlife scene that gets busier than ever for one glorious weekend, there’s something for everyone.
The Manchester Pride Festival 2024 will culminate in the touching and poignant candlelit vigil in Sackville Gardens, where people come together to remember those we have lost to HIV.
This year’s event will once again fall on the August bank holiday weekend, which means it falls between Friday 23 and Monday 26 August.
Manchester Pride Festival 2024 parade
The Manchester Pride Parade is back for 2024. Credit: Carl Sukonik
It’s probably the most popular element of the Manchester Pride Festival every year, and 2024 is set to be no different.
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This year’s parade theme is ‘Buzzin’ to be Queer – A Hive of Progress’, a nod to the city’s worker bee emblem as well as a symbol that shows how much stronger communities can be when they work together.
The parade will start at midday on Saturday 24 August and weave its way through the city centre, ending up in the Gay Village.
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It starts at the junction of Liverpool Road and Deansgate and ends on Fairfield Street, but the exact route map hasn’t yet been released. We’ll update this as soon as it is.
Tickets and wristband exchange for Manchester Pride Festival 2024
Tickets are still on sale for Manchester Pride Festival 2024. Credit: Gemma Parker
Tickets for Manchester Pride Festival 2024 are still up for grabs, and weekend tickets are great value for money.
Day tickets are priced at £41 for either Friday, Saturday or Sunday – that’s just for the Gay Village Party (the candlelit vigil, parade, and many other Manchester Pride events are free to attend).
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Weekend tickets cost £49.25 each, so you may as well go all-out and have a full party weekend. Would be rude not to, really.
Before you go to Manchester Pride Festival, you need to swap your ticket for a ‘Pledge Band’ wristband at the exchange point.
This year, you’ll find it on Aytoun Street Car Park. The opening times are below:
Friday 25 August: 12:00 – 00:00
Saturday 26 August: 12:00 – 00:00
Sunday 27 August: 12:00 – 00:00
Monday 28 August: 12:00 – 18:00
A fixed donation of £2.50 from every ticket sold goes directly to the Manchester Pride Community Fund, ensuring that LGBTQ+ causes and projects in Greater Manchester receive vital support with grants that are distributed throughout the year. Pledge Band tickets must be purchased to facilitate the event.
Who’s on the line-up at Manchester Pride Festival 2024?
Sugababes. Credit: Publicity picture
It’s another cracking line-up for the LGBTQ+ festival this year, with headliners including girlband icons Sugababes, Brit Award-winner Jessie J, two-time Eurovision champ Loreen, and Rita Ora.
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Just added to the line-up is also Gok Wan, whose DJ sets have become a Pride favourite.
Also performing are The Greatest Showman actress and singer Keala Settle, Atomic Kitten’s Natasha Hamilton with Danny Beard & Friends; and Steps’ Claire Richards over on the Alan Turing Stage, alongside Pride Divas with Misty Chance.
On Saturday, the Indoor Arena will pay homage to Manchester’s warehouse clubbing legacy and will host the Gaydio Dance Arena. Headlined by DJ Paulette, there’ll be a line-up of Gaydio DJs including Dave Cooper and Forbid.
There’ll be disco, house and funk galore at The Village Stage when Black Pride MCR takes over, while the Queer Asian Takeover returns to the Alan Turing stage.
Bimini has sadly pulled out of the festival, along with BollyWitch, Felix Mufti and Dan Chan – you can read more on that here.
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See more on the 2024 Manchester Pride Festival line-up here.
How to travel to Manchester Pride Festival 2024
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.
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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.
Other events (Ginny Lemon’s Dog Show, Family Pride, Youth Pride, Superbia, Scene Screen thing)
It’s not just about the live music and the parade – Manchester Pride Festival is big and really does have something for everyone.
Superbia – this year-round arts and culture programme also puts on a cracking series of events each year as part of the festival, always showcasing Manchester’s queer talent. Many of these events are alcohol-free, accessible spaces and you’ll find everything from music to dance to workshops to parties. See more here.
Youth Pride MCR – this programme of events is specially designed for young people aged 14-18, and includes workshops, performances from young drag stars, a rooftop party, drag bingo, board games, and so much more. Find out more about Youth Pride MCR here.
Family Pride MCR – the best thing about family is that everyone’s looks a little different, and that’s celebrated to the max at Family Pride MCR, which has loads of events and advice for families. If you’re wanting to take your whole brood along to the festival, here’s a dedicated guide (and a few events just for you too).
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Ginny Lemon’s Dog Show – the most fabulous pups in Manchester will be strutting their stuff in this barking mad event, hosted by Ginny Lemon and Fatt Butcher. It’s billed as the ‘campest event of the Manchester Pride Festival’, which is saying something… It’s happening on Sunday in Sackville Gardens.
Candelit Vigil – of course, no Manchester Pride event could happen without taking some time to honour and reflect on those we have lost to HIV, and to stand united in the fight against the global epidemic and the persistent stigma that surrounds it. This poignant final event in the Manchester Pride Festival weekend is hosted in partnership with George House Trust, and will be live-streamed for anyone who can’t attend on Monday.
Featured image: Gemma Parker
What's On
All the free things you can get with a Great Manchester Run finisher’s medal this year
Danny Jones
What’s the best part about doing the Great Manchester Run, we hear you ask? All the freebies, of course. You’ll be glad to hear there are more free things than ever for finishers this year.
More than 35,000 runners are set to take on the challenge, be it the half marathon or the 10k, and we firmly believe every single one of these legends should be entitled to as much free stuff as possible.
If it were up to us, they wouldn’t pay for anything all day, but hey, we make don’t make the rules.
So yeah, without further ado, here are all the freebies you can get for taking part in the Great Manchester 2025.
Free stuff and offers for Great Manchester Runners to cop in 2025
Without further ado, here are a tonne of freebies, discounts and deals you can grab by simply flashing your finisher’s medals:
Credit: The Manc/Supplied
Dishoom –Complimentary 330ml Kingfisher/Kingfisher Zero (0.0%) for anyone with anyone dining with a finisher’s medal.
Blacklock –Free glass of fizz on us with your medal.
Maray – Free glass of fizz/pint (or non-alcoholic beer/soft) for anyone with a medal who is dining on Sunday
Electric Shuffle – Free house wine, prosecco or pint for anyone with a 2025 medal.
Salon Madre – 2-4-1 margaritas all day Sunday for anyone with a race medal.
Suki Suki – Free bao bun for anyone with a medal.
Refuge/Kimpton Clocktower Hotel – 100 free pints of Manchester Union Beer (first come, first served)
Hello Oriental – Discounted soft serve ice cream, plus a free beer or soft drink with any meal for all finishers
The Shack – Flash your medal to claim a free glass of Prosecco or beer, plus parties with medals get 20% off their food bill.
Dough Religion (House of Social) – half price slice at Manchester Jazz Festival on Sunday
Tate McRae at Co-op Live, Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more for ‘Miss Possessive’ tour
Thomas Melia
Canadian performer Tate McRae is bringing her viral bangers to Co-op Live, Manchester for a night of sass, synths and of course dance breaks.
The time has come to let all your ‘exes’ know, put your ‘Sports car’ in drive and get ready to ‘run for the hills’ because it’s finally time for Tate McRae to take to the Co-op Live stage in Manchester.
Now the Calgary-born talent, four albums deep and only 21 years old, is ready to perform to 23,500 Manchester fans at our city’s largest indoor entertainment venue.
Tate McRae gig guide
Tate McRae is visiting Manchester twice, 24 May and 25 June, playing Co-op Live.
Sun 22 June – Nottingham, UK – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Tue 24 June – London, UK – The O2 Arena
Thu 25 June – Manchester, UK – Co-op Live
Tate McRae tickets for Co-op Live gig
‘What would you do?’ if I told you that there were tickets left for Tate McRae’s Co-op Live shows in Manchester, because there just might be.
Any fans of this Canadian pop star will have to act fast because there are only a select number of precious tickets left for both of her Manchester dates.
Tickets for both Tate McRae’s shows on Saturday, 24 May and Thursday, 25 June, are selling fast and are in high demand.
What are the stage times for Tate McRae in Manchester?
Co-op Live has a strict curfew of 11pm meaning the Canadian performer might have her set wrapped up before the clock hits ’10:35′.
Anyone attending can expect the doors to open at 6:30pm with a kick-off time of 8pm and support from New Zealand star BENEE, best known for soundtracking lockdown with her huge hit, ‘Supalonely’, collaborating with the likes of Gus Dapperton, Spacey Jane and more.
For those of you heading to Co-op Live, you’ll be glad to know it’s right next door to a rather famous big blue stadium and its integrated Metrolink stop.
Head along the light blue or orange lines directly to the Etihad Campus or Ashton-under-Lyne, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Trams run frequently on the Ashton-Eccles line to the Etihad stop, with services leaving every six minutes from the city centre and until 1:00am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bus
You can find the full list of bus routes HERE, with the one in closest proximity to the venue being the 53 bus, which runs from Cheetham Hill through to Higher Crumpsall, Old Trafford and Pendleton, leaving just a two-minute walk to Co-op Live. You also get free Bee Network travel with any valid event ticket.
Getting there by car and parking
If you’re driving, there is limited parking available at the venue, but this must be pre-booked ahead of time, and there are designated drop-off areas.
The postcode is M11 3DU and you can follow the signs towards the wider Etihad Campus as you get closer; directions to the adjacent drop-off points will also be signposted.
Keep in mind that congestion on the roads close to the stadium is expected to gather around two hours prior to any event, so if you are travelling on the road, these are the suggested times they provide come event day, though estimates will obviously vary:
Alan Turing Way (both directions): plan an additional 20 minutes into any journey by road.
Hyde Road (eastbound): expect an additional 15 minutes to be added to your journey.
Mancunian Way (westbound): plan for an extra 10 minutes of travel time.
There are also three park-and-ride facilities near Co-op Live, but be advised that the Velopark and Holt Town stops will be closed post-event to help safely manage crowds:
Ashton West (Ashton line) – 184 spaces and 11 disabled spaces
Ladywell (Ashton-Eccles line) – 332 spaces and 22 disabled spaces
Walk/cycle
Lastly, Co-op Live is only a half-hour stroll from Manchester Piccadilly, and you could even walk along the canal all the way to the front door if you fancy taking the scenic route.
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app. There are hire points just near the south-west corner of the Etihad Stadium on Ashton New Road.
For more information on all travel options, you can check out the enhanced journey planner.
Expect nothing but hits from 21 year old superstar Tate McRae when she performs at Co-op Live, Manchester.
Daisy Jackson -
14th August 2024 
