Manchester Pride Live Festival Announces Line Up

Zara Larsson, Sigala, Annie Mac, Gabrielle, Katy B, Example and Eve will lead the line up set to appear at this year’s Manchester Pride Live on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 August.

Manchester Pride is planning to hold its flagship Manchester Pride Festival, in its regular spot in the city’s calendar from Friday 27 August until Monday 30 August. The festival features six key strands: Activism, Equality, Arts and Culture, Youth and Family, Community and Party.

Swedish singer Zara Larsson has collaborated with MNEK and Tinie Tempah. She has performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert alongside American singer John Legend and in January 2018, was named to Forbes' "30 Under 30 Europe" list. Her third album Poster Girl was released in March and debuted at number 12 in the UK Albums Chart.

On Sunday night Zara will be joined on stage by singer, songwriters Ella Henderson, Gabrielle, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Lucy Spraggan. The stage will be hosted by Danny Beard, Cheddar Gorgeous, Anna Phylactic, The Manchester Queens and House of Blaque.

Set to appear on Saturday are English DJ, record producer and remixer Sigala, Radio One DJ Annie Mac, singer songwriter Katy B and musician, singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer Example.

The LGBTQ+ charity has secured another major artist as headline performer on Saturday but will not be in a position to reveal their identity until 27 August, right before the bank holiday weekend show.

In the past they have had big name artistes like Ariana Grande appearing. Could Kylie Minogue be appearing or maybe Years and Years? If American artists can travel to the UK by August then if they could get Lady GaGa or Adam Lambert it would put a smile on a lot of faces.

The venue for MCR Pride Live will be announced in coming weeks, though it will be in a new venue with the capacity reduced from previous years.

The roots of Manchester Pride and the Festival are firmly in the heart of Manchester’s Gay Village. Taking place over all four days of the bank holiday weekend, the Gay Village Party is a huge street party celebration with performances, markets and parties.

This year the festival will include Trans Creative presents Trans Pride Rally plus live performances across the Alan Turing Stage in Sackville Gardens, MancUnity Stage, Playground Stage and Superbia presents Queer Music Stage. Highlights will include Danny Beard and Friends, Black Pride MCR Takeover and Fat Pride.

Ticket holders can also expect the return of favourites such as the silent disco, sing-along cinema, the marketplace and the fairground rides.

Tickets to the Festival went on sale last month with the MCR Pride Live Rainbow Passes selling out in less than an hour. A limited number of weekend and day passes are now available.

Rainbow Passes, which allow access to MCR Pride Live Festival and four days at the Gay Village Party, start at £55 for a day or £84.50 for the weekend and Gay Village Party tickets are £17.50 for one day or £25.00 for all four days.

Mark Fletcher, CEO of Manchester Pride, said;
“I’m really happy that we are able to share this announcement. With many artists having decided not to tour this year, my team has worked twice as hard to secure a first class lineup of performers who are each excited to be able to celebrate LGBTQ+ life with us, in person this year. And unless the roadmap to recovery changes we can’t wait to come back together once again.

“MCR Pride Live will be in a new home, with a reduced capacity but the standard of talent on the stage remains exceptional and we know that our loyal and excited audience will love the programming across all of the events. Tickets to MCR Pride Live are very limited now and the Gay Village Party is selling fast, so I urge everyone that wants to come to buy them before they sell out.”

New to this year is the introduction of a Low Income Ticket. These tickets are reserved for participants on a limited income. The Low Income Ticket Programme offers a reduced ticket price of 50%. They will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis and they will be on sale until 30th June 2021 or until they have sold out.

These tickets are available for both the Gay Village Party and MCR Pride Live. Due to there being a limited number of Low Income Tickets available, they are restricted to Greater Manchester residents only.

To qualify for the Low Income Ticket Programme, attendees will need to provide evidence of one of the following:
Universal Credit
Working Tax Credit
Job Seekers Allowance (JSA)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

They will start at £22.50 for a Rainbow Day Pass or £39.75 for the weekend and £7.50 and £12.50 for Gay Village Party tickets. Information on how to apply can be found on Manchester Pride’s website.

For more information about the festival visit www.manchesterpride.com.