Accessibility at Manchester Pride Festival: What we offer

At Manchester Pride Festival, we make temporary, reasonable adjustments to the area to provide access to the event site and staged event areas. We are aware of the limitations and restrictions of making the Gay Village Party event site fully accessible due to the nature of the location of the event.

Carer/Personal Assistant tickets - Applications now closed.

In our commitment to making Manchester Pride Festival accessible to everyone, we offer a free Carer/Personal Assistant Ticket for Access customers who may require one. Carer/Personal Assistant Tickets are limited to 1 per applicant.

Customers with disabilities are encouraged to purchase their own Gay Village Party ticket, and then apply for a complimentary Carer/Personal Assistant Ticket. Once applied for, our dedicated Accessibility Team will be in touch closer to the event to introduce themselves and confirm the status of your application.

How to apply for your Carer/Personal Assistant ticket:

1) Purchase a Gay Village Party ticket for yourself first  – If you are planning to apply for a PA ticket, do not purchase a ticket for them.
2) Once you have purchased a ticket, please submit an Access Application Form to let us know about your accessibility requirements.
3) Upload some supporting evidence with your application via the Access Application Form. This could be anything such as a PIP letter, DWP letter, Blue Badge, Access Card or a diagnosis letter. We appreciate that some people may require assistance but not receive DLA - please contact us to discuss your access requirements. Each request will be looked at individually.
4) We will reply to you within 5 working days with an outcome to your application.
5) Applications close Monday 21st August.


Please note: Applications for Carer/PA Tickets are now closed.

Accessible Toilets

We have Accessible portaloos in the following locations;

• Pledge Band Exchange (Aytoun Street Car Park)
• VIP area at the Village Stage 
• MancUnity stage toilet block
• Bloom Street toilet block
• Village Stage toilet block
• Viewing Platform at the Alan Turing Stage
• Viewing Platform at the Village Stage
• Behind the medical and welfare tent

Viewing platforms

We provide accessible viewing platforms at our stages at the Gay Village Party.

Access Reception

The Access Team will be based here if you have any questions or queries over Manchester Pride Festival weekend. The Access Team will be wearing pink Hi-Vis vests with a wheelchair user symbol on the back.

Parade Viewing Area

Each year we offer an accessible Parade viewing area. Please check back for more information in 2024. 

Quiet space

If you would like time away from the crowds during Manchester Pride Festival, we have a Quiet Space available throughout the duration of the weekend. There will be a ‘Complete Silence Room’ and a ‘Low-Volume Activities Room’ available. There is also a multifaith prayer space available. These rooms will be signposted.

BSL

We will have BSL interpreters for all performances that have words or lyrics. The interpreters will generally be located to the left of the stage. Please note that there will not be a BSL interpreter at the MancUnity Stage in the Gay Village Party as this stage consists mainly of dance music and contains no spoken word.

Please check back in 2024 for BSL interpreter stage times. 

Assistance dogs

Registered assistance dogs are welcome on site. We ask you to please consider the welfare of these animals when in loud and crowded areas.

Menus

We aim to have large print plain text menus available at all bars and traders at the Gay Village Party.

Hearing loops

We aim to have hearing loops at various locations across the Gay Village Party.

Medical Fridge

We will have a medical fridge on site. Please bring any medication you require in a clear sealed bag with your name and phone number on the bag for identification.

Accessibility Info Pack

Before the festival we send out an access info pack to customers who have had their applications approved. This has some more details about our provisions and a little more info about Manchester Pride Festival for your convenience. If you require our Accessibility Info Pack in a different format, for example in audio format, please get in touch with our team at accessibility@manchesterpride.com.

Download 2023's Accessibility Info Pack in audio format here.

Looking ahead

As we develop the provisions we offer at the festival, we are constantly looking ahead on things to improve. 
Below are some of the things we are hoping to have in place in the future. 

• Sensory space
• Mobiloo (Changing places facility)
• Braille menus for our bars
• Radar key locked toilets
• More hearing loops in key locations 

Getting to Manchester Pride Festival

Manchester enjoys first-class transport links, making it easy to get to the city, Manchester Pride Festival and for exploring Greater Manchester.

For travel information to get to Manchester please visit here.

For travel around Manchester once you arrive in our fabulous city, there are a number of transport networks to choose from:

Metrolink

Manchester's light tramway system runs a fast and frequent service and is ideal for getting to Manchester Pride. Metrolink is accessible with step-free platforms. Manchester Pride takes place at multiple venues across the city, and is accessible from most city centre stops. The nearest Metrolink stops to the Gay Village are Manchester Piccadilly (approximately 5 minutes away) and Manchester Piccadilly Gardens (approximately 5 minutes away). The Parade works its way across the city and so any number of Metrolink stops will get you close to the action.

Free Metroshuttle

Getting in and around the city centre is easy and free with Metroshuttle. The shuttle buses pick up outside Piccadilly Station, on the approach and travel to key areas including Oxford Road, Deansgate, Portland Street and Spinningfields. The Metroshuttle is fully accessible with step-free access to pavements. 

Bus Network

Greater Manchester has an extensive bus network. The nearest bus stop to The Gay Village is located on Portland Street just outside Caffé Nero, or on the opposite side of the street next door to Yates bar. Manchester Piccadilly bus station is a short walk (approximately 5 minutes away) from The Gay Village. 

Parking

Manchester City Council offers over 15,000 secure parking spaces as well as on-street parking. There are a number of accessible car parking facilities around the city close to our Event Sites. The nearest accessible NCP Car Parks to Manchester Pride Festival are Minshull Street, Sheffield Street and Piccadilly Plaza. Please check the NCP website here for fees and further info.

Digital Accessibility

We want everyone to be able to use our website regardless of their computer knowledge or disabilities. We have designed our website to be as accessible as possible, in accordance with guidelines laid down by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Help with seeing the page

You can easily make changes to your computer to help you see what's written on the page more clearly.

Most internet browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Safari, allow you to force the text on a web page to be the size and colour you want. Many operating systems also come with a built-in screen magnifier that allows you to enlarge a portion of the page to several times the original size.

Help with your keyboard and mouse

Many people think they can't use a computer because they can't use a mouse, but it's perfectly possible to do away with your mouse and use a keyboard instead.

If you can use a mouse, but find it difficult, there are ways to make your mouse easier to use in your settings on your computer.

Accessibility Tools: Recite Me

We're committed to improving communication and the quality of the service we provide, and to fulfil this mission, we now provide Recite Me assistive technology on our website. This enables our visitors to customise their experience in a way that best suits their individual needs.

Recite Me Web Accessibility and Language Toolbar

Recite Me is innovative cloud-based software that lets visitors view and use our website in a way that works best for them. We’ve added the Recite Me web accessibility and language toolbar to our website to make it accessible and inclusive for as many people as possible.

Accessing the Recite Me toolbar

You can open the Recite Me Accessibility Toolbar by clicking 'Accessibility tools' in the navigation menu, in the top right corner of the Manchester Pride website.This button now appears in the top right corner of every page of our website.After you click 'Accessibility tools', the Recite Me toolbar opens and displays a range of different options for customising the way the website looks and ways you can interact with the content.

Using the Recite Me toolbar

Please see our Recite Me User Guide for full instructions on how to use the toolbar.