After years of traveling to the England, I’ve finally got the chance to explore a city beyond London, and I decided to make it Manchester for its annual Pride weekend (known as The Big Weekend – and boy was it a big one!). Unsure what to expect when I arrived, I boarded my train from London after spending a week there (more to come on that), and arrived into the Manchester Piccadilly station. I followed the gaggle of gays that were on my two-hour train ride to make sure I was headed out the right direction, and my instinct proved me right. I was literally welcomed by a sea of rainbows flags at the station and in the city center.

A short walk down from the station (and really close to the Holiday Inn Manchester City Centre), was one of the entrances to the four-day Pride festival at the famous Canal Street (the heart of the gay village in the city). The Village is both party central for the festival weekend (and year-round for the community). Hundreds of the LGBT community were outside celebrating almost nonstop all weekend long. Check out photos from the festival below, as well as the parade (which had 150 participating in the parade and thousands of spectators):

Coun Carl Austin-Behan, Manchester’s first openly-gay mayor

The theme of this year’s pride was ‘Once upon a time…’, which resulted in many of the parade participants going for fairytale and fantasy-like floats and marchers.

Hi boys!

Werk!

Even the rain couldn’t stop the parade!

The party moved back to Canal Street and the festival area after the parade

Countless glitter beards (and glitter faces) all over the weekend

Families, singles, besties – all walks of life at the Pride festival ❤

You know you’re in the gay village when … 😛

Vampires IRL

Husband hunting, so of course had to track down the local gay rugby team 😛

Candlelight vigil on the final night to remember those lost to HIV and hate

A firework finale

Music also played a big role at the festival, with two different stages all weekend and performances in clubs. From Will Young on the main stage to B*Witched at the Eagle bar.

Photos: Andrew Villagomez

More Manchester Pride photos on Facebook

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