Get ready for our boldest, queerest Gay Village Party yet!
The Gay Village Party is a diverse, inclusive queer-led and queer-run celebration of LGBTQ+ life and love in Manchester’s world-famous Gay Village. This year is set to be the ultimate celebration of queer joy at the heart of the Manchester Pride Festival.
We are super excited to share the line-up that symbolises the importance of changing the conversation and elevating and showcasing the biggest queer artists, and focusing on putting community-led performance.
We have worked closely with our communities to offer a line-up that is for the community, by the community. Manchester is a pioneering City spearheading the global Pride Movement; we are so proud that our line-up puts local queer performers alongside renowned international LGBTQ+ talent, with a little support from our allies.
The line-up consists of 96% queer performers, 54% female performers, 51% people of colour, and over 42% trans and non-binary performers. It’s our queerest, most diverse celebration yet!See the full line-up:
Headlining this year’s Gay Village Party is Brazilian sensation and the most followed drag queen in the world, Pabllo Vittar. With her feel-good pop anthems, Pabllo Vittar has not only released multiple smash-hit albums, she has collaborated with legions of pop acts, and performed all over the globe.
We’re excited to welcome Jake Shears back to the Gay Village Party. The American singer and songwriter is best known as the former co-lead vocalist of the band Scissor Sisters, and has since gone on to pursue a solo career, with his latest album Last Man Dancing due to be released later this year.
We are also welcoming back our homegrown legends as Danny Beard returns to the Gay Village Party with their brand new shiny crown as the reigning winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, to host Danny Beard and friends for the fifth consecutive year.
‘Drag Hero’ BIMINI will headline Trans Filth and Joy which also makes a return to the Gay Village Party this year. The takeover has been co-produced with Milk Presents and Trans Creative UK, who were recently awarded a Community Fund grant to become a registered charity, and promises an evening of pure filth
Brand new for 2023, House of Spice are performing this year, as part of the Queer Asian Takeover, which spotlights Asian and Middle Eastern communities and their queer brown joy. Gok Wan will headline and will be joined by local talent including The Bitten Peach and Gracie T.
The Manchester Pride Festival Gay Village Party Line-up
Pabllo Vittar | Jake Shears
Natasha Bedingfield | Danny Beard | Jodie Harsh | Gok Wan | BIMINI |
Lisa Scott-Lee | Cheddar Gorgeous | Black Peppa | Jonbers Blonde | Monki | Gracie T | Angie Brown | La Discotheque Orchestra | Kelly Llorenna (N-Trance) | Dakota Schiffer | Ginny Lemon’s Dog Show | Blasha and Allatt (Meat Free/Frixxxion)
Rikki Beadle-Blair | Kim Lana | Mix-Stress and Friends | The Bitten Peach | House of Spice | The Enby Show | Queeriosity Cabaret | NoirTones | Queer Women’s Takeover | SWAGGA | Black Pride MCR | Danny Beard and Friends | Fat Pride | Cutie-POC Cabaret | Queer Asian Takeover | Disabled Queer Joy Cabaret | Trans Filth and Joy | Misty Chance and Friends | Your Manchester | Monopoly Phonic | Kele Le Roc performing Basement Jaxx ‘Romeo’ | Val The Brown Queen and Blaq Ivory presents | The Runway by Banksie | DJ Stacy Bee | Tom Aspaul | Violet Blonde | Lucky Roy Singh | Jsky | Reeta Loi | Queen Bayard | Barb | Lady Bushra | Misty Chance | The BollyWitch | Lill | Banksie | Joanna Cuddle | Sam Buttery | Ivy Profemme | Miss Lei-Lei | Joe Spencer | The Niallist | Minara ‘El Waters | Club Clam | What She Said | Vanilla Girls | FATCAMP | Pecs Drag Kings | The Fat Britney | Ghetto Fabulous | Donna Trump | DJ Nkay | DJ KL | Carrot | Flick | Queens in Kicks | Frequency 3 | DJ Klitbait | Cyro | Club Zindagi | Belinda Scandal | Disney Classics with The Untold Orchestra | DJ Billy Andrew | DJ Callum Parr | Duniya Dhoom | Shanika Sunrise | Immy Terial | Jason Patel |
+ Special Guest soon to be announced
A £2.50 fixed donation from every ticket goes directly to the Manchester Pride Community Fund, and every penny goes to supporting LGBTQ+ causes and projects in Greater Manchester. So far this has included Mehfil, an event being produced by the House of Spice to celebrate South Asian and Middle Eastern cultures, and TINY’s Barbershop, who are offering support and discounted haircuts for people who identify as Trans and Non-binary. You can see the first 15 projects funded by Community Fund Grants and Superbia Queer Arts Grants here.
The infographic below shows exactly where the money from each ticket purchase goes, this is based on the budget for the 2023 Manchester Pride Festival.
