The annual Manchester Pride Parade is always a fabulous event. But this year it really will be out of this world – bosses have revealed it will have a deep space theme.
The centrepiece of the annual Manchester Pride celebrations on August Bank Holiday weekend, the parade snakes through Manchester city centre and draws thousands of people out to watch the colourful floats and cheer on the hundreds of participants who march in celebration of the LGBT+ community.
The theme of this year’s Manchester Pride Parade is set to inspire plenty of amazing outfits and floats.
Bosses have confirmed the theme this year will be Deep Space Pride: A Future World of Equality, as the LGBT+ charity invites the city to look forward and envisage what the world could look like in the distant future. Colours are expected to be as diverse as the communities that march, as the charity looks to a world where all people are free to love without prejudice.
While LGBT+ charity Manchester Pride encourages people to look to the future, they also celebrate how far Manchester has come already.
Last year the Parade was bigger than ever before, with just over 10,000 participants on floats and walking entries from businesses and community groups across the region. It is one of the festival’s most highly anticipated events, with thousands of people marching proudly together through the streets of Manchester in front of tens of thousands of supporters cheering them along the way.
With organisations including Greater Manchester Police, the fire service, local businesses, charities and the stars of Coronation Street taking part last year, there will certainly be lots to see.
The Manchester Pride Parade starts on Liverpool Road, passing by the Town Hall and the Gay Village before finishing on Whitworth Street. In recent years it has been led by some of the most prominent faces in the LGBT+ world including Orange Is The New Black actress Lea DeLaria, national treasure Sir Ian McKellen and Manchester’s first out Lord Mayor, Carl Austin-Behan.
Applications are now open for those who wish to take part in the parade.
Mark Fletcher, chief executive for Manchester Pride, said: “As we acknowledge the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, an event which kick started the modern LGBT+ pride movement, we are taking a clear moment to stop, reflect on the changes in society, acknowledge the progress that has been charted and consider the future of LGBT+ equality. What will this look like?
“At Manchester Pride, our vision is a world in which LGBT+ people are free to live and love without prejudice. We’re inviting people to fast forward 50, 100 or even 200 years and envisage what the world could be like at this time, as we march for LGBT+ equality.”
Earlier this year Manchester Pride announced a brand new format for this year’s Festival, which takes place over four days on August Bank Holiday (23 – 26 August) weekend.
It is now made up of six key elements – Manchester Pride Live, the Candlelit Vigil, the Superbia Weekend, the Gay Village Party, Manchester Pride Parade and Youth Pride MCR – with a new home at Mayfield for the event’s live music experience which this year will be headlined by Ariana Grande and Years and Years.
But the Manchester Pride Parade will remain the same as it welcomes hundreds of thousands of revellers to witness the spectacle of LGBT+ people marching across the city centre on Saturday afternoon.