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Event Information:
Manchester Pride is the current name
of the annual Gay Pride festival
held in the city of Manchester in
the North West of England in the
United Kingdom. It is one of the
longest running in the country and
attracts thousands of visitors to
the city's Gay Village, which
centres around Canal Street, each
year. The current Ten Day Festival
includes a "Pride Fringe" with a
series of arts, music and cultural
events all over the city as well as
community events including poetry
readings, quizzes and film showings,
culminating in "The Big Weekend", a
72 hour party during the August bank
holiday weekend in Canal Street and
the surrounding area, with a Pride
march through the streets of
Manchester.
The
first LGBT August Bank Holiday
fundraiser was held outside The
Rembrandt Hotel in Manchester in
1990. It was not a Pride event. The
purpose was solely to raise money
for HIV and AIDS causes, in
particular for the ward at Monsall
Hospital where people received
treatment. By the following year
there was a full programme of
activities from Friday to Monday and
it was christened "the Carnival of
Fun Weekend". On the Monday evening
in 1991 it was announced that a
good-luck telegram had been received
from Diana Princess of Wales. Over
the following years, the event grew
and was known as Mardi Gras. It
developed with support from the VBA
(Village Business Association).
At the
closing ceremony in 2003, it was
announced that the event would be
now be known as "Manchester Pride"
(the manchesterpride.com domain name
was registered by the web designers
on behalf of Pride in April 2003)
and in 2007 it became a Charity in
its own right (charity number
1117848). One reason for this change
was because in 2006 Customs and
Excise had tried to charge back VAT
for several years. This happened
because, in their view, Manchester
Pride was no longer a charity
fundraiser. Increasing
commercialisation meant that a
dwindling percentage of the income
reached a final good cause. By 2010
just over 11% of Manchester Pride's
total income was reaching a good
cause in the end. Since Europride
2003, the event has been organised
by a Pride committee, in conjunction
with Marketing Manchester, the
Lesbian and Gay Foundation, and
George House Trust. The area is once
again cordoned off and gated, and
wristbands must be bought to gain
entry to the "compound". Some of the
performers over the past 7 years
include The Gossip, Kelis, The Human
League, Samantha Fox and Dana
International, as well as popular
LGBT performers like Claire Mooney,
Heather Peace and Valentino King, a
Drag King.
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