Award Winning Event Discloses Dates For Festival 2005
Manchester Pride - The 10 day summer Lesbian and Gay festival which is held every August continues it’s charisma within the LGBT community. The winner of an award presented by the regions marketing department for tourism to the North West of England, unveiled it’s dates for the 2005 festival those of the 19th – 29th August 2005.
(PRWEB) January 10, 2005
Manchester Pride draws tens of thousands from across the whole of Britain with many travelling even greater distances from Europe and across the world, coming to the North West to join in the festival.
The event stages a multitude of programs ranging from the arts and sport to lifestyle and stage, the calendar attracts something for everyone, from the ‘Party in the Park’ for the family to exhilarating performances of regional and national artist, performers and musicians on its main Sackville stage set as the focal point of the ‘Big Weekend’.
Historically the festival has been the subject of name changing over a number of years since its imaginative juncture back in the early 1990Â’s, which orginually brought together a dedicated community holding a few stalls and raising awareness around LGBT lifestyle and health issues.
Initially the festival brought the community together in both celebration and concern in raising funds which was used for the benefit of the local community, today that same tradition continues to bring to the city hundreds of thousands every year – with its vast programme of eventing.
During the run up to Manchester Pride 2004 its officials laid the foundation for continued success to be built on year in year, under the direction of Claire Turner festival director who with the city’s Marketing Manchester brought ‘Euro pride’ 2003 to the city, a year earlier.
Manchester Pride is considered by thousands a major event within the LGBT festival calendar and a strong contender of being BritainÂ’s foremost successful lesbian and gay festival.
Regardless of its hiccup of this past year, with concerns raised about the length of time it took to exchange tickets for wristband – with some people claiming that they had waited about an hour to get into the enclosure of Manchester’s ‘Gay Village’ the event was seen as a complete success by the vast majority that attended.
The ‘Gay Village’ again will be the strong contender to stage the 2005 event – with organisers already mapping out the event for August 2005. – Manchester pride has said that it took on board the observations made concerning the waiting times and would be operating a system which will speed up the process for the future.
The event which is run in conjunction with ‘Operation Fundraiser’ the marriage of the Lesbian and Gay Foundation and George House Trust has raised for good clauses over £132.000 from the festival – making Manchester the leading figure in fundraising though Britain.
Operation Fundraiser who is within its third year has raised £350’000 for the north west LGBT community is a major stakeholder of the festival
Another difference from others held though England each year is the mark of respect that the festival gives by holding a candlelit vigil at the end of the ‘Big Weekend’
It is in this that makes Manchester’s Pride unique and irreplaceable – within the Pride/Mardi Gras calendar across the entire of the United Kingdom.
For hundreds of thousands the ‘Big Weekend’ experience means different things for each person – Many sharing the laughter and the joy, familiarity with family, friends and loved ones. Opportunities present themselves to make new or renew friendships during the festival.
For some the freedom of being who they are, enabling some to reach from deep within themselves whilst experiencing the occasion for the very first time.
As a young man summed up his experience to me when he said that this was his first time, with tears within the ‘guy’s eyes’ he related that for the first time he could be who he was from the inside without being ashamed or expecting reprisals from others.
So whatever your motive if you attended the festival and come away being thankful for the event - now as a community we have the opportunity to show support towards ‘Manchester Pride’ nomination for the BBC Best Event for 2004 – voting is via the BBC Manchester website www. bbc. co. uk/manchester/content/articles/2004/12/20 (http://www. bbc. co. uk/manchester/content/articles/2004/12/20) best of Manchester.
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