LGBTQ+ in Manchester

Pride Parade

The Village

A beacon of celebration in the city, the Village is a welcoming community of bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and businesses open to all. Centred around Canal Street, you can expect to find a flourishing queer scene with entertainment on any night of the week.

Alternative queer clubbing

Whilst the Village is the undisputed centre of Manchester’s LGBTQ+ life, a thriving alternative club scene occupies safe spaces at nights like Kiss Me Again, Bollox, Homoelectric, and female led What She Said, with events at venues such as Hidden, The White Hotel, Firehouse, The Carlton Club and Derby Brewery Arms.

Manchester Pride

Held every August Bank Holiday Weekend, Manchester Pride is a four-day celebration featuring a festival-style programme of music with further events in and around the Gay Village including the famous parade, Youth Pride, Superbia and the poignant candlelit vigil.

Greater Manchester Pride events

For an intimate way to celebrate pride season, the individual boroughs across Greater Manchester host fantastic community events. From Salford’s The Pink Picnic held in Peel Park to events in towns like Bolton and Wigan. Manchester also hosts The Sparkle Weekend, the world’s largest free-to-attend celebration of gender diversity.

LGBTQ+ art and culture

Contact theatre’s Queer Contact and Hope Mill Theatre’s Turn On Fest are just two annual festivals dedicated to LGBTQ+ arts and performance, whilst Sugar and Spice celebrates lesbian and bisexual women. A year-round programme at spots like HOME and 53two also feature plenty of queer culture.

Sport groups

As a major sporting city, it’s no surprise there’s a welcoming LGBTQ+ group for almost any sport you can think of. From the Village Manchester FC and Manchester Frontrunners, to the Village Spartan rugby club and GHAP badminton.

Queer history

Integral to the Campaign for Homosexual Equality in 1964, Manchester has always been at the centre of queer activism in the UK. You can follow the city’s queer history on the LGBT+ Heritage Trail which takes in locations including the Alan Turing statue, and the National Transgender Memorial Garden. LGBT+ walking tours are operated by Free Manchester Tours most Saturdays.

For more information see: visitmanchester.com