In terms of Pride events held in the UK, Manchester’s LGBTQ+ event has usually been up there alongside events in London and Brighton as being one of the biggest. But, as you will have all read over the last few weeks, this year’s festival has sparked some big discussions - and faced some serious consequences.

The board behind Manchester Pride announced last month that they were going into voluntary liquidation after failing to recoup on their financial losses in recent years. This meant that the many artists who performed at the 2025 event in August have still not been paid for their time or talent.

Discussions are ongoing with the Equity union about recouping these losses, but this week i’m not going to go into that. We’re going to look at some recent developments from Manchester City Council - with some details shared on Wednesday (November 26).

The council has reaffirmed its stance that Manchester Pride will be taking place again next year. But it has said this will take the form of a ‘home-made’ effort that’s ‘co-designed’ with the city’s LGBTQ+ community - and will not be run by the council themselves. This is good news for those who were concerned about it being taken away from the community.

“We don’t need to pay for Hollywood stars to come to Manchester at exorbitant rates,” Coun Pat Karney, a veteran Mancunian LGBTQ+ campaigner for decades, said. “The artists in this city are fantastic. They really are. We will work very hard for a successful Pride in 2026.”

It means that the event could fall in line with some of the more grassroots Pride events, stepping away from the corporate side that’s drawn to big named artists in the lure of attracting massive crowds.

Fellow Lib Dem Coun Chris Northwood, the city’s first openly-trans councillor representing, added: “It’s important the community remains at the heart of Pride process. It felt more like a commercial music festival and it felt like that was part of its collapse. It was also criticised for losing the protest element which is why it was set up.

“That’s why we need to focus on not being a commercial event. That’s a wonderful side effect but not the point of Pride.”

For the city that has been let with a bitter taste in its mouths in recent months over the unfolding situation at Manchester Pride, it’s quite reassuring and certainly hopeful that things may be heading in the direction they perhaps should have steered towards years earlier…

You can read the full story right here.