Manchester Pride has announced the line-up for Superbia, a series of arts and culture events as part of the Manchester Pride Festival taking place from 24th – 28th August. 

Superbia is a culturally rich celebration of LGBTQ+ life featuring a line-up of free activities suitable for all ages from workshops to cinema screenings. 

An alternative way to celebrate Pride, many events are delivered in alcohol-free, accessible spaces across the city centre, Superbia is designed to celebrate Manchester's extraordinary queer talent through a diverse range of media.

This year, the event has been curated by creative producer, Beau-Azra Scott, and is cultivated with love, acceptance and inclusivity at its core.

The series of events opens with a Pride Special of Superbia Cinema at Ducie Street Warehouse on Wednesday 24th August showing a series of shorts from North West based queer film-makers, and events continue throughout the week, ending on Sunday 28th August with a Disabled, Queer & Hear; Drop-in Social & Show at Feel Good Club in Northern Quarter.

Disabled, Queer & Hear provide a platform for queer people with disabilities to show off their skills and talent within the public arena. The walk-in event is open to all ages and will be a day of acceptance and awareness with performances from Sugar Cube, George the Dragon and House of Crip.

Mark Fletcher, CEO of Manchester Pride explains why Superbia is such an important aspect of the Manchester Pride Festival: “Superbia supports and platforms local queer artists, offering them vital paid work and a platform to showcase their projects and talents. We’re really excited to bring the events to life and celebrate the rich history, diversity and talent that Manchester has to offer.” 

Thursday 25th August is the launch of the ‘Manchester is Queer’ Exhibition. Artists have been invited to create and present work centering around re-telling stories of forgotten Queer Manchester history including the 20,000 people strong Anti-Section 28 protest and one of the first Drag Balls in 1880. 

On the same evening, NoirTones present ASMR (Arts, Social, Music, Rally & Rise Up) in partnership with Rainbow Noir and LGBT Foundation. Primarily for queer, trans and intersex people of colour (QTIPoC) the evening is a chance to converse, create, connect and celebrate at Whitworth Locke. This will be a chance to prep placards and playlists ahead of Saturday’s Manchester Pride Parade. 

On Friday 26th August, international makeup artist Patti Baston will be hosting a Feminising Masterclass & Mixer, sharing tips and tricks on how to finesse the perfect feminising makeup application.

On Saturday 27th August, Feel Good Fest is taking place at queer owned venue, Feel Good Club, in the Northern Quarter bringing an all-day explosion of queer joy open to all ages with no ticket needed. Expect talks, live music, flash tattoos, mixers and more. The line-up includes award-winning trans activist, author and media personality, Charlie Craggs, Ghetto Fabulous founder Darren Pritchard and Manchester music legend DJ Paulette.

Superbia’s Creative Producer, Beau-Azra Scott, commented: “In producing the programme this year I hoped to create something that authentically celebrates, discusses and spotlights Manchester’s rich queer history and community, and most importantly: how we got to where we are now, how we move forward, together.

“The ‘Manchester Is Queer’ exhibition, for example, invites artists to directly respond to Manchester’s Queer History and Untold Orchestra's exciting new show ACT UP is a creative ode to an incredibly monumental time in our community’s history.

“To me, it felt important to create spaces of connection and community building, outside of just aspects of nightlife.”

Other events being held across the weekend include a Queer Kids Music Workshop for 13-18 year olds using Ableton Live software and equipment, The Untold Orchestra present ACT UP at Contact theatre and Fatty Acid, LAD$ Collective and Pride Punx present QUEERCORE at NIAMOS in Hulme.

Some of the events have limited capacity so free tickets can be found here: www.manchesterpride.com/superbia-weekend