Manchester Pride goes bust after 40 years with artists left ‘out of pocket by thousands’

Manchester Pride, a charity which for four decades has organized one of the UK’s top LGBTQ+ parades, has gone bust.

After a week of speculation, the charity has been put into voluntary liquidation and is being assessed by the charity regulator.

Pride’s organizers named rising costs, slumping ticket sales and an unsuccessful bid to host Euro Pride as factors behind the decision.

In a statement on the Manchester Pride website,

What are your memories of Manchester Pride? Or are you a performer left unpaid? Drop us an email at josh.milton@usnewsrank.com

‘We were proactive and determined to identify solutions to the financial issues. We’ve been actively working with several partners, including legal and financial advisors, to do everything we could to find a positive solution.

‘We had hoped to be able to find a way to continue, and, most importantly, to support our artists, contractors and partners. Despite our best efforts, sadly, this has not proved to be possible.’

The news came after a report by The Mill Newsletter said that many artists and performers wrote to organizers about not being paid.

They said they received ‘automated replies’ after Manchester Pride failed to pay them within the 30 days following the August parade.

The letter added: ‘This isn’t just an administrative failure – it’s a breach of trust and legality.’

Equity, a union for performers, said some artists and creatives had been left ‘out of pocket by thousands’.

The union’s North West representative, Karen Lockney, told Metro that the union met with impacted performers earlier this week.

‘We heard upsetting stories from people unsure if they can make payments for rent, medical prescriptions and other essentials,’ she said.

‘Treating working professionals like this is unacceptable.’

Among the affected creatives is Abbie Ashall, who is owed £2,000 after her pay day was missed in September for her freelance work.

‘I think not enough people were buying tickets… we’re seeing a massive trend in the events and festival industry that people just are not buying,’ she told Sky News.

Council leader Bev Craig said Manchester Pride ‘remains a hugely important event for our city’ and confirmed the parade will still be held next August.

‘Its form may have changed, but its importance to our city has not- it’s something we take tremendously seriously,’ she added.

Company House records show several directors being terminated over the last few days. There are now up-to-date filings on the charity’s finances.

The last update was submitted in September 2024 for the year up to December 2023, showing a deficit of nearly £500,000.

Despite generating £2.7million in revenue, it lost £467,000 that year, almost as much as it lost in 2020 during the throes of the Covid pandemic.

This left organizers – who had put on shows with line-ups including Ariana Grande and Olly Alexander – with negative funds of £356,000.

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