Will Manchester Pride return in 2026 after organisers went bust? | Manchester News

There are hopes Manchester Pride will return in 2026 – with the city council stepping in to offer support – after the charity behind the event recently went into voluntary liquidation.

Dozens of businesses and performers said in October that requests for payment worth thousands of pounds had been met with silence by event organisers.

Bosses at the time blamed Pride’s collapse on a “combination of rising costs, declining ticket sales and an ambitious refresh of the format aimed to challenge these issues”.

Manchester city councillor Pat Karney said he was “all in favour” of a cheaper, “home-made Pride” and the council had already had “very positive meetings” with a number of interested parties.

Nathaniel J Hall, creative producer of one event during the Pride weekend, Manchester Pride Vigil, said the priority going forward should be rebuilding trust between creators like themselves and organisers.

“Everyone who makes Manchester Pride should get paid. It’s not just about the money either, there’s a real sense that a lot of trust has been lost in the creative sector and the LGBTQ+ sector in Greater Manchester,” he said.

“There was not just the financial impact, there was the emotional impact of it all as well.”

They said Pride, which usually takes place over the August bank holiday weekend, meant “so many things to so many people” and it was not just a big hedonistic party.

“Manchester Pride was a fantastic event with youth Pride, family Pride, one of the most diverse line-ups of any Pride event across the whole of the UK.”

Sarah Miguel, from the LGBT foundation, said she hoped to see more representation and diversity from Pride in 2026 and beyond.

“Looking ahead we want it to still remain to be a positive and a party place but keep that essence of protest,” she said.

“Manchester has always been at the heart of these movements for equality and Pride is part of that so we want that essence kept there.

She said Pride brought “a huge economic benefit to the city” and she wanted to see the people involved benefiting from that as well.

“We think it is really important that queer creatives in our city are paid and receiving the benefit of that next year.”

Councillor Karney explained: “Pride is a massive economic boost to the city that puts Manchester on the global map,” he said.

“We’ve been doing this for decades and it would be a tragedy if Pride disappears, it would be a really bad mark on the city.”

He added: “The main job is to get Pride up and running next year.

“None of these Hollywood stars, exorbitant salaries and fees. There’s plenty of artistic talent in Manchester.

“This is one of the leading cities for the LGBTQ community, we’ve got to have a Pride and I’m confident in 2026 we’re going to have a great Pride.”