What's On
Parmogeddon is taking over Northern Monk in the Northern Quarter
Emily Sergeant -
12th March 2020
Emily Sergeant -
12th March 2020 What's On
Family-friendly LGBTQ+ festival returns to Manchester Pride 2026
Danny Jones
Exactly what it says on the tin, Proud Fest returns to Manchester for 2026, promising plenty of fun for all ages away from the main hustle and bustle this summer.
Best part of all? It’s completely FREE.
Taking place in the heart of the city centre, it offers a viable alternative to many who want to avoid the major crowds that flock to Gay Village’s Pride party every year.
Just the second year that this LGBTQIA+ festival has been set up, making its colourful debut in 2025, there’ll be everything from live music, games and other interactive opportunities for all ages, arts and crafts, plus workshops and plenty more; there’s something for everyone here.
Championing “entertainment, family-friendly activities, music, creativity, and plenty of Pride spirit”, the 2026 edition of Proud Fest is set to be one of the biggest ever.
ADVERTISEMENT
Based around Great Northern Warehouse just off Deansgate and Peter Street, it’s set to be hosted by drag queen ‘Aida H Dee’, as well as Sara Gosney-Hughes, best-known for her travel expertise and work as a broadcaster and producer at nearby station Hits Radio.
With both calling Manchester home, alongside lots of other organisers behind the free festivities, you can expect plenty of hometown passion and pride – pun very much intended.
ADVERTISEMENT
Trust us, they’ve got a jam-packed schedule.
Set up in partnership with Proud 2 b Parents (P2bP), mums, dads and more will also be able to enjoy the official Pride parade from a viewing area in the dedicated Community Hall, where they’ll get a perfect spot to watch the floats and performers go down the strip.
Canal Street is already gearing up for those sublime, sun-soaked evenings at the end of August.
Speaking ahead of the latest iteration of the annual festival, Founder and CEO of P2bP, Matt Taylor-Roberts, told us in a statement: “Proud Fest is about creating the spaces many of us wished existed when we first became parents.
“It’s a celebration of LGBTQ+ families in all their diversity and a reminder that every family deserves to feel seen, supported and celebrated.”
At its core, this is about creating a safe and friendly option for families to still feel connected to the queer community and play their part in the wider celebrations.
You can grab your completely complimentary tickets right HERE.
And if you’re looking for other great days out for the family in Manchester this summer, there’s another free event happening at Circle Square earlier in the month.
Read more:
- Audio North’s Artist of the Moment for Pride month – Aaron Dinning | June 2026
- 15 places kids can eat for £1 or FREE throughout the summer holidays
- A scary movie festival screening sun-soaked slashers is coming to Manchester this summer
For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE
Featured Images — Proud 2 be Parents (supplied via Brazen PR)
What's On
A horror film festival screening sun-soaked slashers is coming to Manchester this summer
Emily Sergeant
A horror film festival screening sun-soaked slashers is coming to Manchester this summer.
Popular Manchester indie cinema Cultplex is turning up the temperature with Summerween: Hot Summer Frights this month.
Taking place on the last weekend of July, while horror films may make you think of the colder months at first, the festival will be swapping frosty scares for sun-soaked slashers – with movies guaranteed to make audiences sweat.
Opening the weekend is Tobe Hooper’s landmark masterpiece The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a film that famously transformed the sweltering Texas landscape into one of cinema’s most terrifying settings, with its relentless atmosphere and raw brutality continuing to leave audiences shaken.
The programme then shifts to Guillermo del Toro’s haunting gothic ghost story, The Devil’s Backbone, set during the final days of the Spanish Civil War, before Saturday evening brings a change of pace with Joel Schumacher’s beloved 80s cult classic, The Lost Boys, where California sunshine meets stylish vampire thrills.
The weekend continues with Kim Jee-woon’s acclaimed psychological horror, A Tale of Two Sisters, a beautifully unsettling tale of grief, family trauma, and supernatural terror.
And what better way to close out the festival than with a modern-day summer horror classic? Ari Aster’s Midsommar is a modern folk horror epic that transforms perpetual daylight into a source of overwhelming dread.
Read more:
- Loads of famous films are coming back to UK cinemas to celebrate their anniversaries
- Finding Emily – the hit new romcom that really romanticises Manchester
- Trailer released for new BBC legal drama The Split Up set and filmed in Manchester
Summerween: Hot Summer Frights is taking over Cultplex on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 July, and tickets are on sale now here.
Featured Image – A24 (via Netflix)
More What's On
Audio
Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute
Eats