Manchester Pride

Manchester Pride is one of the UK's leading LGBTQ+ charities. It campaigns for LGBTQ+ equality, celebrates LGBTQ+ life and creates opportunities that engage LGBTQ+ people in Greater Manchester so that they can thrive. Every penny it raises is ploughed back into the community and it is dedicated to promoting and raising awareness for LGBTQ+ issues in the fight for equality.

Manchester Pride
Manchester Pride Parade
GenreCharitable Organization, Gay pride, LGBT
FrequencyAnnually - August Bank holiday
Location(s)Manchester, England
Years active1985–present
FoundersVillage Charity
Most recent23 August 2019 (2019-08-23) – 26 August 2019 (2019-08-26)
Next event28 August 2020 (2020-08-28) – 31 August 2020 (2020-08-31)
Attendance170,000
Websitehttps://www.manchesterpride.com/

Manchester Pride Festival is its flagship event that takes over the city every year across the August bank holiday weekend in celebration of LGBTQ+ life. It takes place in the Canal Street area and Mayfield, while the parade occurs through Manchester city centre. It is one of the longest running in the country and attracts thousands of visitors to the city's gay village each year and which is made up of Manchester Pride Live, the Superbia Weekend, the Gay Village Party, Manchester Pride Parade, Youth Pride MCR and the Candlelit Vigil. The parade features various supporting organisations and charities, as well as representative floats from the ten metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester.

History

The event commenced August bank holiday 1985 in the Gay Village, with the support of a new batch of Labour Party (UK) Councillors, elected 1984 who gave the gay community their support and appointed a Lesbian and Gay officer, a move inspired by Ken Livingstone.[1] By 1986 Manchester City Council had provided £1700 in funding to hold an event at Oxford St, the bars got together to raise money for AIDS organisations in the city with a lot of support from the gay community, it started as a very small event that people put their efforts into, it was the start of a more organised gay community, in a time of hostility from Police. In 1989 events were for fund raising to provide soft furnishings for the ward at Monsall Hospital where people received treatment for HIV / AIDS, by 1991 the Village Charity was established and ran the festival then known as Manchester Mardi Gras, 'The Festival of Fun' it raised £15,000.[1][2] By this time it had expanded to include a full programme of activities from Friday to Monday with a market held in Sackville Park and a fireworks display, funds came from the North West Development Agency. By 1997 the event was notably popular with people of all backgrounds in society,[3] and by 2002 there were 100,000 in attendance.[1][4]

In 2003 the gay village was a closed gated area during the event with an entry fee charged for access even though in 2002 Manchester pride and the council where both told that they couldn't insist on a charge. See www.factsmcr.com. But since the ombudsman ruling in 2015 that said the wording in the order went beyond the powers of the council and was unlawfully the roads within the Gay Village are only closed to vehicles and people on foot have unrestricted free access into the Gay Village and it is an offence for ManchesterPride to obstruct access. [5] in the same year at the final closing ceremony of Mardi Gras, it was announced that the event would now be known as "Manchester Pride" and in 2007 it became a Charity in its own right (charity number 1117848) in 2013 it had loss of more than £16,000 and in 2014 Manchester Pride invited people from the LGBT community to help shape the way the organisation is run.[6] by 2016 the event raised £149,000 for the Manchester Pride Fund, with The Big Weekend drawing over 170,000 visitors.[7] The parade can be watched by any spectator as it travels from Deansgate.[8] In 2017 the event raised £161,000 for LGBT charities in Manchester.[9] The parade had over 4,000 participants and nearly 150 entries and attracted tens of thousands of spectators to the city centre.[10] Manchester is the first such parade to include the police, the army and the NHS among its floats.[1] In 2019, it was estimated that 170,000 visitors would attend during the weekend.[11]

Manchester Pride Live

A new addition to the 2019 Pride Festival, Manchester Pride Live features the biggest pop and dance artists performing on various stages across the Mayfield site. The first Manchester Pride Live was headlined by Ariana Grande, marking her return to the city since One Love Manchester, and Years & Years.[12][13] The second Manchester Pride Live is to be headlined by Adam Lambert.[14]

Saturday 24 AugustSunday 25 August
Years & YearsAriana Grande
Emeli SandéCheryl
Kim PetrasBananarama
Basement JaxxFaithless
Lady LeshurrBecky Hill
Louisa JohnsonPixie Lott
Nicky SianoTulisa Contostavlos
Kings of TomorrowHercules and Love Affair
Freemasons ft. Katherine EllisFour of Diamonds
Gok WanChelcee Grimes

Criticisms

Ticket price

The 2019 event has attracted some criticism over the cost of entry to the live music area and also an entrance fee.[15] Standard entry cost in 2018 was from £12.50 for the Monday, a one day ticket was £20 plus booking fee for Saturday or Sunday or £18.50 for Friday. A weekend ticket was £28. Elite tickets were £150. including three drinks per day from Saturday to Monday, Clubhouse bottle of bubbly, access to the parades VIP viewing stand plus lunch vouchers and priority entry.[16] 'The Big Weekend' has been replaced by a ticketed event for 2019, with a weekend ticket fee of £64.50 plus booking fee.[17][18] There are three types of ticket for 2019. The concerts will be held at the Mayfield Depot, a 10,000-capacity venue with performances by Ariana Grande, Years & Years, former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl and N-Dubz singer Tulisa.[19][20] The Rainbow Pass for over 18s gives access to the concert and the Gay Village Party, the Gay Village Party at Canal St is without age restriction and weekend tickets are £15 plus booking fee, a family ticket for two adults and two children for £20 plus booking fee and day tickets. There are also VIP tickets, giving access and perks, priced from £200 to £275 plus booking fee.[20] QZ Magazine has stated the events pricing is consistent with rising costs of concerts held in the city and that ticket prices for the live event caters to the privileged.[21]

Access

Criticisms have arisen over the closed nature of the event. In 2002 Manchester Pride was told they couldn't insist on a fee for the public to use streets in the gay village, yet went ahead with fees charged from 2003.[22] Pride organizers argue that it increases safety and, by purchasing a ticket to enter, this gives Manchester Pride an increased income that will be donated to charities. The wristband offers access to its arena sites, where music performances are held, certain bars and clubs within the vicinity charge their own entry fees, in addition to the charge for access to gay village during the event. Manchester Pride noted the issue, stating, "we ask that bars do not charge an entrance fee during the Big Weekend; however this is something we cannot enforce".

Arguments and protest arose in 2014 after a number of people demanded the right to pass on foot at Canal St, they were denied free passage and a protester was arrested. Afterwards Councillor Kevin Peel claimed this was an attempt to disrupt the event, despite the campaigners for access being part of the LGBT community. The campaigners were correct in that the footpath was illegally being obstructed. [23] [24][25] [26] In 2015 the Ombudsman found fault in the Council’s wording of a Traffic Regulation Order.[27] In 2017 a member of the public questioned restricted access and was advised by Greater Manchester Police pedestrians retained their rights of way according to the wording in the TTRO for that year[28]

  • Manchester Pride, 2006
  • Manchester Pride, 2008
  • Manchester Pride, 2009
  • Manchester Pride, 2010
  • Manchester Pride, 2011
  • Manchester Pride, 2012
  • Manchester Pride, 2016
  • Manchester Pride, 2016

See also

References
  1. Jennifer, Williams (27 August 2016). "What is the point of Manchester Pride? Thirty years of partying and politics... but the battle isn't over yet". Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  2. "Manchester LGBT History". Manchester City Council. Manchester City Council. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  3. Tony, Naylor (17 August 1997). "Manchester's Mardi Gras festival next weekend, and the Canal Street 'gay village', testify to a vibrant hedonism". The Independent. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  4. "Mardi Gras show goes on". BBC. BBC News. 22 August 2002. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  5. McDowell, Jordan (31 August 2011). "Jackie Crozier Interview". Manchester Confidential. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  6. "Manchester Pride Invites People To Shape How Organisation Is Run". Manchester Gazette. Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  7. "Report for Greater Manchester Police" (PDF). 15 June 2017.
  8. Evans, Denise (24 August 2012). "Manchester Pride: Your guide to the 2012 festival". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  9. O'Rourke, Holly (29 January 2018). "Manchester Pride Festival smashes records in 2017". men. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  10. "Manchester Pride Festival - Black History Month 2018 | Black History Month Celebrating the Great Black British Achievers". Black History Month 2018 | Black History Month Celebrating the Great Black British Achievers. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  11. "Does a Pride event need Kylie or Ariana Grande?". BBC News. 23 August 2019.
  12. "Ariana Grande and Years & Years to Headline Manchester Pride Live". Manchester Pride. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  13. "High ponies and high glamour at Manchester Pride 2019. Who's on the line-up?". Metro. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  14. Jackson, Daisy (4 February 2020). "Adam Lambert announced as first Manchester Pride Live 2020 act". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  15. Hunt, El. "Priced out of Pride: why the Manchester event's ticket hike is just the tip of the money-making iceberg". NME. NME. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  16. Jackson, Daisy. "Manchester Pride 2018 tickets - prices, what they get you and where to book". Manchester Evening News. Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  17. Parkinson, Hannah Jane. "Manchester Pride is charging £71 a ticket this year. That's a bit rich". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  18. "Pride 2019". Manchester Pride. ManchesterPride. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  19. Jackson, Daisy. "Manchester Pride adds Cheryl and more acts to 2019 line up". Manchester Evening News. Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  20. "Tickets 2019". Manchester Pride. Manchester Pride. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  21. Pometsey, Olive. "Ticket prices show how live events now cater to the privileged". QZ. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  22. "How FactsMCR exposed a lack of fact-checking and low standards at the Manchester Evening News". FactsMCR. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  23. Willacy, Josh (30 August 2014). "Did Manchester City Council and Pride act outside the law over Gay Village access during Big Weekend?". http://www.mancunianmatters.co.uk/. Retrieved 31 August 2020. External link in |publisher= (help)
  24. "MANCHESTER PRIDE INVESTIGATION". g7uk.com. G&UK. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  25. Josh Willacy (26 August 2014). "Pride 'right of way' row was bid to sabotage Big Weekend, claims Manchester councillor as protester arrested". http://www.mancunianmatters.co.uk/. Retrieved 31 August 2020. External link in |publisher= (help)
  26. "Reclaiming Pride in Manchester". Gaymafiawatch.com. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  27. "Manchester City Council (14 015 131)". LGO. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  28. "Reply GMP". What Do They Know. What do they know. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
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