This weekend, Manchester celebrated LGBT+ pride in style, draping itself in rainbows and glitter as it partied for four days straight.
The whole weekend was scorchio, but temperatures reached highs of 29 degrees on Sunday, giving revellers the perfect excuse to strip down and show off.
It has been hailed as the biggest Manchester Pride yet, with over 200 floats and thousands taking part in the parade alone. That’s not to mention the new 10,000 capacity Pride Live space at Mayfield Depot, or the thousands more strutting their stuff in the Village.
This year’s parade theme was Deep Space Pride: A Future World of Equality – and everyone looked amazing.
Obvious rainbows aside, some of the weekend’s top fashion highlights included neoprene puppy hoods, leather harnesses atop bare chests and many, many decorative fans.
There were plenty of real puppies there, too, all dressed up by their owners in various rainbow-coloured getups and looking completely adorable.
Click or swipe below for a full gallery of photos from Manchester Pride 2019:-
There was plenty of glitter and sparkles going around too, of course, plus a decent amount of blokes hanging out in just their boxers. We even saw a couple dressed up in matching sailor outfits (well, matching tan, socks, pants, shoes and caps, anyway).
Revellers sported brightly coloured wigs, and there was many a see-through mesh top or co-ord to be spied both around the Gay Village Party and over at The Depot for Pride Live.
The Village was thriving and the street parties filling its narrow backstreets more than made up for the relocation of two of its stages to The Depot this year.
It was also home to a brand new funfair, with rides filling the carpark on Bloom St.
The sun beat down mercilessly, but that only served to elevate the crowds’ spirits as they danced to a soundtrack of (mostly) pop, chart music, techno and deep house.
Over at The Depot, meanwhile, crowds eagerly anticipated headline sets from big names including Years and Years, Basement Jaxx, Cheryl, Bananarama and, of course, honorary Manc Ariana Grande, who made her first appearance in the city since her 2017 One Love Manchester benefit concert.
Some teething problems prevailed, but – ultimately – that didn’t stop Manchester getting its party on.
On Sunday, everything came to a close as hundreds filled Sackville Gardens to commemorate those who’d lost their lives to HIV and AIDS, and to join together in love and unity.
Finishing with the Manchester Lesbian and Gay Chorus performing We are Family to a backdrop of fireworks, the overarching tone was ultimately one of love and togetherness.
Marking 50 years since the Stonewall Riots in New York, we’ve come so far – but we’ve still got a way to go.