Manchester Pride is Manchester’s annual festival celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) life. Manchester’s celebrations started in 1990 on August Bank Holiday weekend to raise money to support those affected by HIV.
Manchester Pride Mission Statement:
Manchester Pride is an annual festival by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, working towards the involvement of different sectors of the community, and raising funds for LGBT & HIV organisations.
Manchester Pride provides opportunities for empowerment, participation, representation, access, and celebration, encouraging pride, respect and partnership working.
Why is it called Manchester Pride?
Manchester’s pride activity has had a number of names over the last 18 years: Absolutely Fabulous, GayFest, Mardi Gras and EuroPride.
In 2003, EuroPride established the festival as a ten-day event involving a range of activity including sport, film, debating & campaigning, arts & entertainment, parade and the traditional Bank Holiday activity – the Manchester Mardi Gras.
Research conducted at the festival; on the feedback forms on the EuroPride website; e-mails sent to the EuroPride office and meetings with a wide range of LGBT community organisations, indicated that people welcomed the new elements, particularly those who had always felt that the traditional Mardi Gras activity was not something that they were interested in.
The research indicated that many individuals and organisations perceived Manchester Mardi Gras to be about partying and drinking, and only encompassing activity over the Bank Holiday weekend in the Village.
By calling the ten-day festival Manchester Pride, it would retain the inclusivity of EuroPride and reflect the additional elements of sport, art, heritage, film etc that had encouraged a huge number of people to take part in the event for the first time.
When is Manchester Pride 2008?
Manchester Pride 2008 is a ten-day festival from Friday 15 - Monday 25 August 2008.
The Big Weekend is 78 hours of celebrations from 6pm on Friday 22 August until midnight on Monday 25 August.
Is it still a fundraising event?
Yes. Manchester Pride has traditionally always been a fundraiser for local HIV and LGBT communities and is the only Pride event in the UK which has consistently done so.
Between 2003 and 2006 Operation Fundraiser, working together with Manchester Pride raised nearly half a million pounds which has been distributed to over eighty local LGBT and HIV groups and charities and benefited a wide range of diverse projects.
Manchester Pride became a charity in 2007 and will continue this fundraising tradition and work with the Lesbian and Gay Foundation and George House Trust to raise funds for LGBT and HIV groups in Greater Manchester
By giving your support to Manchester Pride, you're helping a great range of charities and community groups around Greater Manchester. Many couldn't exist without your contributions from attending the Big Weekend and giving to the donation buckets through the year. On behalf of the countless lives you've helped, we'd like to thank you.
For more information on who the money raised in 2007 went to help, please click here.