Manchester Pride Festival has become the first LGBTQ+ festival to win the Best Large Festival Award at the UK Festival Awards.
Voted for by the public, the shortlist included the likes of BST Hyde Park, Reading and Leeds Festival, Download Festival, TRNSMT and Isle of Wight Festival but Manchester Pride came out on top.
The Manchester Pride Festival 2022 was co-designed with Greater Manchester’s LGBTQ+ communities and saw stage takeovers from the likes of Black Pride MCR, Trans Creative and Drag Race UK winner, Danny Beard.
A consultation conducted by Manchester Pride earlier this year revealed a desire from Greater Manchester’s LGBTQ+ communities for the city’s Pride celebrations to focus on it’s activist roots and the Charity was delighted to be able to welcome back The Parade for the first time since 2019 after Covid-19 restrictions put a halt on the march in recent years.
Held each year over August bank holiday weekend, Manchester Pride Festival also includes elements such as Human Rigths Forum, The Gay Village Party and The Candlelit Vigil – all which were identified as vital in furthering the cause of community-led activism.
Mark Fletcher, CEO of Manchester Pride, said: “This year’s Manchester Pride Festival was co-designed with our communities, so we share this accolade with each and every one who contributed.
“To win this means so much, given only half a century ago we still had to hide who we truly are. The work of Pride organisations and other LGBTQ+ charities isn’t over. Hate crimes towards our communities here in the UK have doubled in the last five years, our trans siblings have to fight just to live their lives authentically, and there are still 69 countries with laws which criminalise homosexuality.
“Manchester Pride is so much more than a Festival, it’s more than a party. Pride is a protest!”
