Manchester council promises Pride 2026 will go ahead with more community involvement

Manchester City Council has promised that a “new pride festival” will take place in 2026, despite Manchester Pride declaring bankruptsy in October.

The council said that this year’s event will return, adn will be “home-made” and “co-designed” with Manchester’s LGBTQ+ community.

Following the event’s trustees placing the organisation into voluntary liquidation, counsellor Bev Craig shared the city would still host Pride 2026.

Yesterday, a motion approved by all counsellors stated that Manchester town hall will “work with the LGBTQ+ community in a transparent process” for the event’s creation.

Town hall has already began working with performers’ union Equity to support the artists who are still yet to receive payment for the 2025 event.

Councillor Pat Karney said that the event should return to its roots with a “home-made approach,” while the motion said the council would “launch a city-wide taskforce to shape Manchester Pride 2026.”

“We don’t need to pay for Hollywood stars to come to Manchester at exorbitant rates,” Counsellor Karney said.

“The artists in this city are fantastic. They really are. We will work very hard for a successful Pride in 2026.”

It was Counsellor Alan Good who first suggested the “new” pride events should be created in collaboration with local communities.

“I think Manchester Pride became a bit of a money-grabbig event that became rootless,” he told Manchester Evening News.

“This model of running Pride is broken. The rise of smaller local Prides is testament to that. Didsbury Pride, Whalley Range Pride, and Salford Pride are amazing local Prides and a reaction to what was going on.”

More information on Manchester Pride 2026 is expected to be released soon.