“We should go back to home-made Pride. We don’t need to pay for Hollywood stars to come to Manchester at exorbitant rates”

13:48, 26 Nov 2025Updated 13:55, 26 Nov 2025

Manchester Pride is one of the UK’s biggest and best attended… but the company fell into liquidation earlier this year(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)

Manchester Pride 2026 will be ‘home-made’ and ‘co-designed’ with the city’s LGBTQ+ community, the council has promised.

The future of the annual parade, party and vigil looked in doubt after its organiser, Manchester Pride Events Ltd, went into voluntary liquidation last month as bosses said the event was ‘no longer financially viable’. Council leader Bev Craig quickly clarified the city will host another Pride in August 2026.

Now more details on what the town hall is planning with Pride have been revealed. A motion approved by all councillors on Wednesday (November 26) said the town hall will ‘work with the LGBTQ+ community in a transparent process to co-create a new pride festival’.

“We [Manchester council] will not be running Pride,” said Coun Pat Karney, a veteran Mancunian LGBTQ+ campaigner for decades.

“We have assurances from the George House Trust the vigil will go ahead. We should go back to home-made Pride. We don’t need to pay for Hollywood stars to come to Manchester at exorbitant rates.

“The artists in this city are fantastic. They really are. We will work very hard for a successful Pride in 2026.”

Councillors have started working with performers’ union Equity on supporting artists that were not paid for the 2025 event, Coun Jon-Connor Lyons added. The approved motion also commits the authority to ‘launch a City Wide Taskforce to shape Manchester Pride 2026’.

(Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)

It was originally proposed by opposition Lib Dem councillors, before being amended by the dominant Labour group.

Coun Alan Good initially called for the ‘new Pride’ to have greater community involvement. He explained why: “I think Manchester Pride became a bit of money-grabbing event that became rootless.

“This model of running Pride is broken. The rise of smaller local Prides is testament to that. Didsbury Pride, Whalley Range Pride, and Salford Pride are amazing local Prides and a reaction to what was going on.”

Fellow Lib Dem Coun Chris Northwood, the city’s first openly-trans councillor representing, added: “It’s important the community remains at the heart of Pride process. It felt more like a commercial music festival and it felt like that was part of its collapse. It was also criticised for losing the protest element which is why it was set up.

“That’s why we need to focus on not being a commercial event. That’s a wonderful side effect but not the point of Pride.”

More information on Manchester Pride 2026, such as when it will take place, if the parade will be retained, and more are expected to be given in an update to its ‘communities and equalities scrutiny committee’ in due course.