Manchester Pride 2019
Wirld.com had a fantastic time at Manchester Pride 2019, the sun shone, the crowds came and Manchester was in party mode!.
The streets were packed as 10,000 marched through the City in a colourful fun celebration of all things queer. The Coronation Street float stopped to heckle the "Gays will burn in Hell"mob , the "Gay Gordon`s" marched with bagpipes even a few Darth Vader`s complete with storm troopers! All to do with the pride theme "Deep Space Pride: A Future World Of Equality" . Anything that produces a Darth Vader in rainbow sequins walking down Canal Street is all good in our book.
Canal Street Gay Village. Manchester Pride 2019
This year there have been a few changes to Manchester Pride with the addition of the new "May field" site by Piccadilly. With a big new venue and big names, Ariana Grande and Years & Years the ticket price has shot up and so caused a bit of backlash on social media.
It probably didn't help that the venue opened 3 hours late and then promptly locked out anyone arriving after 7pm, more backlash on social media. This year Manchester Pride added a brown stripe to the rainbow coloured logo to insure a "more inclusive approach" , and yeah you guessed it more controversy on social media. So keeping with the theme the Pride march was stormed by angry lesbians protesting over trans rights, they "took over" leading the march for quite some distance. Never a dull moment at Manchester Pride !
But enough controversy and back lashings, we were there to party and couldn't give a hoot about May field and dived headlong into Canal Street. And are we glad we did, a fantastic atmosphere and bursting with people all basking in a tropical (for Manchester) 26 degrees, what more could you ask for at one of the best Pride Events in the UK.
The Manchester Pride Canal Street Party
The "Gay Village" during Manchester Pride is gated off and its £15 to get in. You can claim "your right of entry" apparently as some did when we were there but be warned the bars may not serve you !. It was well worth the entry as the Village was packed and it was only half two in the afternoon!.
We found a spot outside the New New York Club and along with a packed crowd laughed along with the hilarious drag act on stage, great fun and a cheap beers from the uniquely named "Beers for Queers" off licence near by!
With all the bars and clubs in Canal Street and the huge crowd the Village had an amazing atmosphere with everyone literally dancing in the streets. We visited most of the bars (research , honest) and were surprised how many bars hadn't maxed up prices, you can still have a great Pride at Manchester even on a budget.
Canal Street
Manchester Pride has plenty of bars and clubs ( click on the link above) and Pride is about the best time to visit. The Village consists of a 1 km long stretch of bars and clubs by the canal not far from Piccadilly in the centre of Manchester. During Pride there`s the stage in Sackville Gardens and a fun fair (£5 for a go on the Dodgems). Behind Canal street there`s a couple of streets with more bars and fast food joints. There is plenty enough to keep you busy until the sun sets and whole place ramps it up.
If you want a Pride event with a great party crowd and don`t want to blow your life savings then Manchester Pride is perfect. Its big enough to draw a crowd but still feels unique and just very "Manchester", and the village is a great spot to party away a Pride weekend.
We partied the night away at New York New York a club bar with drag acts , TriBeCa bit swisher , G-A-Y , The Molly House , Eagle Bar , BarPop, New Union, and i'm not sure after that !. We hope you enjoy your next Manchester Pride 2020 !