Torrential rain and thunder couldn’t stop the party on day three of Pride
There were a few constants at Manchester Village Pride this year. If you’ve been there you’ll know that one of them has been the rain – lots of it in fact.
But if you’re a regular attendee, you’ll also know that Pride in Manchester is also characterised by bucket-loads of resilience. A bit of bad weather, and even a temporary stop due to thunderstorms, couldn’t stop the city’s most joyous and necessary celebrations.
We’re known for rain showers and grey days here in Manchester, but Pride’s technicolour flag shone bright through the downpours, thunderstorms and lightning. Its attendees and lineup of stars shone even brighter.
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There’s been a lot of change for this year’s Pride, but the community, as expected, has risen to occasion – and it’s been a joy to watch.
So when the heavens opened on Sunday afternoon, people sheltered, but they also danced in the rain too as Umbrella and Raining Man played over the speakers – that is the very essence of Manchester Village Pride for you.
For the third day of this year’s inaugural Manchester Village Pride, there were no signs of slowing down in terms of the line-up either.
Following the parade and festivities on Saturday, the city’s annual LGBTQ+ celebrations in the Gay Village on Sunday featured big performances from big music stars like Kate Nash, Big Brovaz & Booty Luv and Cascada, as well as the likes of Manchester legends including DJ Paulette, Misty Chance, Misha B, and many many more.
Regular attendees of the historic event, which has now been running more than 40 years, spoke of how the renamed and new-look festival has had a different feel to last year. Now known as Manchester Village Pride, it has emerged from the ashes of its predecessor.
Not long after last year’s event, the company behind what had been known as Manchester Pride went into voluntary liquidation after it was deemed to no longer be ‘financially viable.’
Bars and venues in the Gay Village refused to let it die and joined forces with Manchester Council and the Equity union to create a Community Interest Company (CIC) which has brought the new-look and renamed celebration to fruition this year.
More than 30,000 people attended the event on Sunday, a similar number to Saturday. The daily numbers are understood to be several thousand higher than last year.
Despite the increase, a number of those in attendance said it felt ‘quieter’ and ‘calmer’ than previous years, with bosses putting this down to better crowd management. Others said it felt like the event had ‘gone back to its roots’ and felt less ‘commercial’ than its previous incarnation.
One attendee described how had been the victim of homophobic abuse whilst on their way to the event, as he and others reaffirmed how important the event still was to the community.
Others said it helped showcase the city’s unique Gay Village and LGBTQ+ community, and could help those yet to open up about their sexuality feeling confident enough to do so.
In just the last few months, a number of Pride celebrations across the country have been shut down due to a lack of financial support or the backing of their councils. This threat means that events like Manchester’s are even more vital to the community and many spoke of how proud they were of the city for keeping it going and its strong messaging after a difficult few months.
Mark Doyle who attended Manchester Village Pride this year told us: “It’s about being myself and celebrating who we are as a community.
“I work for Tesco who are one of the sponsors so yesterday I took part in the parade as I have done several times before and it was an amazing experience as always, the weather aside.
“However on way in someone shouted f****t at me. It just shows how important it still is. We have still got much more to do.”
As the evening drew closer, and just after 6pm, The Village was hit by a biblical storm. Flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder were followed by torrential downpours.
Stunned punters were heard screaming as they ran for cover under gazebos and the canopies outside venues.
Others decided to embrace the conditions and went topless and danced out in the open as the rain bounced off the floor and left large stretches of Canal Street under water.
Bosses were forced to temporarily halt the music on safety grounds and whilst the main stage reopened a little later, the decision was made to shut the Sackville Gardens until Monday due to the amount of standing water.
Whilst the worse of the conditions passed quickly, vendors selling pride flag coloured brollies did a roaring trade and the crowds were a sea of umbrellas and ponchos with revellers arriving for another evening’s entertainment taking no chances in the volatile weather.
A little later than scheduled, Kate Nash took to the stage drawing a huge crowd. A whistle-stop tour through he back catalogue, there was of course one song that everyone was waiting for.
Those who grew up in the 90s and noughties know her best for Foundations, the indie pop hit that spawned the famous line ‘I said I’d rather be with your friends mate, cause they are much fitter’. A feeling, I’m sure, we have all at some point, felt towards our significant other.
It was robbed of a number 1 in the UK charts but it needn’t matter because the crowd at Manchester Village Pride knew every word and belted it out alongside the songstress.
The site of former Corrie star Adam Rickitt got pulses racing a little later, as the actor who we best know for his portrayal of Nick Tilsley on the British soap, whipped his top off – clearly he had taken notes from Gareth Gates’ performance on Saturday night.
The last spot of the night when to German Eurodance and electronic pop superstar Cascada. And as the heavens opened again, prompting brollys to be flung open and the cagoules swiftly unpacked from bags, there couldn’t really have been a more fitting end.
A sea of multicoloured umbrellas bouncing to the high tempo beat of ‘Everytime We Touch’ felt close to fever dream territory, while the lashings of rain soaking the crowd to ‘Evacuate the Dancefloor’ felt like a premonition, but if you took a second to look around, you could see that the rain really didn’t matter.
The joy etched on people’s faces as they danced, hugged friends and loved ones, and surrendered to the pulsing beats and uplifting synths of Cascada was sure sight enough that Manchester Village Pride 2026 will go down as in the history books – Pride is finally home.
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