Manchester Pride goes bust following thousands owed in unpaid fees

The charity that runs Manchester Pride has announced the event has gone bust.

Organisers shared on Instagram that they have begun the process of “voluntary liquidation.”

This comes after it was revealed that the organisation owed various individuals thousands of pounds in fees after August’s event.

The charity claimed that the process of liquidation is happening because of “rising costs” and “declining ticket sales.”

An attempt to combat this was made with an “ambitious refresh of the [event’s] format” and an “unsuccessful bid to host Euro Pride.”

These efforts failed and the event has been deemed not “financially viable” after discussions with financial advisors.

The voluntary board of trustee’s staff members will also be made redundant in this process.

The next steps of liquidation will be handled externally to the Manchester Pride team, and details of performers and vendors owed money has been handed over to the liquidators.

In the full statement, Manchester Pride said it “regret[s] the delays in communicating the current statement,” adding that this was due to not wanting to “jeopardise financial opportunities while…discussions were ongoing.”

“We had hoped to find a way to continue, and, most importantly, to support our artists, contractors and partners,” they added.

“Despite our best efforts, sadly, this has not proved to be possible. We are sincerely sorry for those who will now lose out financially from the current situation.”

At least one performer was not paid for their August 2025 performance, according to BBC Newsbeat.

Saki Yew from RuPaul’s Drag Race 2024 said in October that she was one of the unpaid performers from this year’s event, saying that there was “no communication and no answer” from the Manchester Pride team.

“A lot of performers are starting to give up hope of being paid,” she added.

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Chris O’Connor, a sole trader who worked backstage at the same event, shared at the same time that he was planning on taking Manchester Pride’s organisers to small calims court after not being paid £2,050.

Another supplier was owed nearly £1,000 for signage made for the event.

When this was revealled, Manchester Pride released a statement on their Instagram that they were taking “legal and financial advice” to determine the best way forwards, and they aimed to provide “additional communications” by Wednesday 22nd October 2025.

The liquidation process was announced on that day.

Current financial information about Manchester Pride will not be available for some time, however the BBC reported that official documents demonstrated a loss of approximately £468,000 in 2023.

Manchester Pride was contacted for comment but did not respond.