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Manchester Pride accused of excluding poorer LGBTQ+ members after ticket price hike

The £71 weekend ticket has faced backlash


Manchester Pride have faced backlash since increasing weekend ticket prices to £71 from last years price of £30.80.

The weekend Rainbow Pass, advertised below as £64.50, providing access to Manchester Pride Live and the Gay Village Gathering, is £70.95 to purchase on Ticketmaster. This is more than double the price of a weekend ticket last year, which cost £30.80.

Every year Manchester Pride attracts thousands of visitors to the city in a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. However, many people were disappointed in the substantial increase in price when tickets went on sale yesterday.

Despite the high cost, Manchester Pride have not yet revealed the acts performing at the live event, only promising "a world-class line-up of pop and dance artists". Last year the festival saw performances by artists such as Rita Ora, Alexandra Burke and Sigala.

Meanwhile, Pride in London remains a free event, and last year’s Brighton Pride charged a maximum £37.50 for a show featuring pop star Britney Spears.

The price of the tickets has received a lot of criticism on Twitter. One user wrote: "You kinda need to confirm the headliner before you ask the public to pay £70+ to stand in a public street".

Another said: "Pride exists to celebrate equality, diversity, and the LGBTQ community’s struggle", arguing the high ticket price “alienates those who can’t afford it”.

Emelia Hickman, a member of the University of Manchester’s LGBTQ society, has called the pricing "really disappointing", and said she will not attend this year’s Manchester Pride due to the high cost.

"Seeing the acts perform is an amazing aspect however it has just become so focused on the acts", she added: "It is no longer an inclusive space".

In response, an organiser of Manchester Pride told The Manchester Tab that this year is a totally different event, and so "it’s not just a like for like ticket increase at all".

They added: "It is also worth noting that we have plenty of free events such as the Parade, the Superbia Weekend and the Candlelit Vigil". The Chief Executive for Manchester Pride, Mark Fletcher, has defended the price saying: "We’re presenting the biggest line up of artists we’ve ever had, for less than the price of a single concert ticket. Plus as before a limited number of hardship tickets will be made available for those facing financial hardship".

Despite the backlash, Manchester Pride claims that they have seen record figures for pre-registered ticket buyers.