ORGANISERS OF one of the UK’s largest free LGBT+ festivals have high hopes for this year’s event, thanks to support from a leading airport.
Manchester Airport has stepped back on board with the Northern Pride Festival to return as main stage sponsor at the event, which takes place from 19 to 21 July.
This is the third year in a row for the UK’s third largest airport, with this year’s stage being known as the Los Angeles Stage.
And it was recently revealed that the weekend festival will take place across two locations this year, with the Festival Arena – home to the main stage – being held at the Town Moor and Exhibition Park hosting the Community Village.
The festival is growing in size every year, with last year’s event attended by more than 78,000 visitors and more than 20,000 people marching in the annual parade.
Ste Dunn, chair of Northern Pride, is delighted that Manchester Airport is returning as main stage sponsor.
“Manchester Airport is a big supporter of the Northern Pride Festival and it is great news that they have chosen to back us for another year,” said Ste.
“The main stage is a really popular part of the weekend and we’re working on a fantastic line-up this year – with both big names and local talent – to make it one of the stand-out events of the summer.
“Without the generosity of Manchester Airport, we wouldn’t be able to deliver all of the amazing things we have planned, so we are very grateful that they have returned as a sponsor.”
Seb Thompson, press office manager at Manchester Airport, said: “We are delighted to make it a hat-trick with Northern Pride returning for our third year as main stage sponsor.
“The last two years have been such a great success, and we have seen so much love and affection from everyone involved.
“We are looking forward to this year’s event and seeing all of the incredible acts perform on our Los Angeles Stage.”
The theme of this year’s Northern Pride Festival is Remembering Stonewall, looking back at the Stonewall riots which took place during a police raid at New York gay bar the Stonewall Inn in 1969.
The riots were a reaction by the LGBT+ community against discrimination and worked as a catalyst for the LGBT+ rights movement around the world.
There is a packed programme of events planned for this year’s festival with a number of satellite events in the lead up to the musical weekend, which will feature a star-studded line-up still to be announced.
For more information, visit www.northern-pride.com or search northernprideuk on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Manchester Airport is the UK’s third largest with direct rail services from Newcastle. It has more than 210 destinations with over 70 airlines.
It has a host of routes that in the UK can only also be found in London, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Houston, Singapore, Hong Kong and Mumbai.
To find out more about Manchester Airport, visit www.manchesterairport.co.uk.