Today Manchester Pride has announced the brand new format for the 2019 Manchester Pride Festival and a new home for the August Bank Holiday event’s live music experience.
The Festival, which takes place over four days in Manchester city centre every August Bank Holiday (23rd – 26th August), has revealed an exciting new format which will be made up of six key elements, extending the reach of the LGBT+ event even further and creating new touch points for all LGBT+ people across Greater Manchester and beyond.
Manchester Pride Live
The internationally renowned festival, which is one of the biggest in the world, has also announced a unique and exciting location for its new live music element, to be named Manchester Pride Live. The ticketed event, which replaces what was known as The Big Weekend, will take place at Mayfield, close to Piccadilly Station.
The new home for the August Bank Holiday event, Manchester Pride Live is part of a 24-acre regeneration site which will eventually see the creation of a £1bn new neighbourhood for Manchester, including residential, commercial and leisure space, as well as a new city park.
Parts of the site, including the railway arches and Depot, have been brought back into use through a wide range of events including a weekly street-food fair and a host of one-off events including everything from private functions, weddings and two trailblazer events from the Manchester International Festival programme for 2018.
Manchester Pride Live will be staged both within the Depot as well as other previously unused spaces within the former Mayfield rail station.
Manchester Pride Live at Mayfield will take place over two days – Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th August – and will host about 30 artists across two stages in and around the Mayfield Depot, part of the former Mayfield Station site. World class acts will perform each day in a ticket-only party, the like of which has never been seen before at the festival.
The Gay Village Gathering
Manchester’s Gay Village always has and always will be the heart of the Manchester Pride Festival and 2019 will see the creation of the ultimate street party – the Gay Village Gathering. With community performances in Sackville Gardens, plus markets and parties across the village’s venues, it will continue to be home to the hub of the festival’s LGBT+ celebration.
The Manchester Pride Parade
The Manchester Pride Parade will remain the same as it welcomes hundreds of thousands of revellers to witness the spectacle of LGBT+ people marching across the city centre on Saturday afternoon.
The Parade, which was bigger than ever before in 2018, features 150 entries, equating to just over 10,000 participants in floats and walking entries from businesses and community groups across the region.
The Candlelit Vigil
The Candlelit Vigil will continue to close the four days with a moment of reflection in Sackville Gardens. The home of Alan Turing and the Beacon of Hope will again be turned into a sea of flickering candles as the party calms and people take a minute to remember those lost to the HIV virus as LGBT+ people join together to fight the epidemic worldwide, and the stigma that still exists.
The Candlelit Vigil also provides a space to remember those who are suffering and those who are persecuted and presents an opportunity to stand together in a united front as we recognise the many challenges that are still faced by LGBT+ communities, both here in the UK and around the world.
The Superbia Weekend
The Superbia Weekend is the festival’s alcohol-free space offering a weekend of premieres, firsts, new work and LGBT+ celebrations as a culturally rich alternative to the hedonism of the other elements of the festival. Its free-to-attend programme includes film screenings, cabaret, conversation, community workshops, new art and a free post-Pride Parade party.
The events, which were last year hosted at 70 Oxford Road and HOME, will also have a home in the Gay Village in 2019.
Youth Pride MCR will be a free-to-attend event for 16 to 25-year-olds. It will be developed through engagement with young people from across Greater Manchester at focus groups which will be held in February.
Tickets will go on sale on 31st January. Pre-register here – www.manchesterpride.com/festival-abou
