An event commenced on August bank holiday 1985 in the gay village, with the support of new
Labour Party councillors, elected 1984 who gave the
gay community their support and appointed a Lesbian and Gay officer, a move inspired by
Ken Livingstone. By 1986
Manchester City Council had provided £1,700 in funding to hold an event at Oxford Street, the bars got together to raise money for AIDS organisations in the city with a lot of support from the gay community; it started as a very small but was the start of a more organised gay community, in a time of hostility from police. In 1989 events were for fund raising to provide furnishings for the ward at
Monsall Hospital where people received treatment for HIV / AIDS, by 1991 the Village Charity was established and ran the festival then known as Manchester Mardi Gras, 'The Festival of Fun' it raised £15,000. By this time it had expanded to include a full programme of activities from Friday to Monday with a market held in
Sackville Park and a fireworks display, funds came from the
North West Development Agency. By 1997 the event was notably popular with people of all backgrounds in society, and by 2002 there were 100,000 in attendance. Since 2003 the gay village has been an enclosed event space across the Manchester Pride weekend, and a pledge-band is needed to access some programmed events and selected Village venues. The funds raised from the sale of pledge-bands helps Manchester Pride achieve its charitable objectives which includes celebrating LGBTQ+ life while providing a platform and employment for local LGBTQ+ people. In 2003, Manchester hosted 'EuroPride'. The ten-day event consisted of sports, music, dance and other cultural activities which culminated in the August bank holiday event termed as 'The Big Weekend'. Later, Manchester Pride continued to organise 'The Big Weekend' and became a registered charity outfit in 2007 (charity number 1117848). Manchester Pride organises an annual program for all members of the LGBTQ+ community. In 2013 the charity had loss of more than £16,000 and in 2014 Manchester Pride invited people from the LGBTQ+ community to help shape the way the organisation is run. by 2016 the event raised £149,000 for the Manchester Pride Fund, with The Big Weekend drawing over 170,000 visitors. In 2017 the event raised £161,000 for LGBTQ+ charities in Greater Manchester. The parade had over 4,000 participants and nearly 150 entries and attracted tens of thousands of spectators to the city centre. Manchester is the first such parade to include the police, the army and the NHS among its floats. 2019 saw elements of the Manchester Pride four-day August bank holiday festival take place away from the Village when the music stage is moved to the site of the former
Manchester Mayfield railway station. 'The Big Weekend' has been replaced by a ticketed event for 2019, with an entry fee of £71. In 2022, the concert element of the event was dropped after a consultation with the LGBT+ community amid concerns about how the charity is run found that MCR Pride Live, as the concert was to be called, was considered less important whilst the parade, the Candlelit Vigil, the Gay Village Party, Superbia Weekend, Youth Pride MCR, Family Pride MCR and Human Rights Forum were identified as vital elements of Manchester Pride. Manchester Pride live returned for the 2023 event. == Controversy ==