True Pride is coming to Manchester
A community-focused event.
Pride celebrations in Manchester are known to be massive but if you're looking for something a bit more community focused, you'll probably want to check out True Pride - a new event hosted by Hidden, taking place on Saturday 1 August.
Billed as an exclusively queer-curated Pride festival, True Pride will be centred around music, performance, film, and community.
Programming will include the Indie Room, a seated Acoustic Space, the Electronica Basement, the outdoor “Groove is in the Joy” space, an art-house queer film room, and an Arts Lounge featuring queer interviews, talks, avant-garde pop performances, live string quartet and queer wellness offerings.
Founded and curated by a team of queer curators, including Jamie Irrepressible, DJ Bollibubbles, DJ Sandra D, Liam Walsh and Sally McFerran, True Pride is a response to the ongoing underrepresentation of queer artists in mainstream Pride programming.
“True Pride is about creating a space where queer artists, audiences and stories are not on the sidelines but at the centre..." explains Jamie Irrepressible. "It’s about building something celebratory, representative and genuinely exciting — a platform for both emerging voices and established artists across the community.”
Alongside the festival, Of Naked Design has launched the OND Fund for queer songwriters from disadvantaged backgrounds. The no-strings-attached fund will support two UK musicians each year with £2,000 each to use towards creating an EP or single package, funding a UK mini-tour, or staging a launch event.The deadline for submissions is 15 May 2026 - applications can be submitted here.
“It has always been an aspiration of mine to help musicians like myself who have struggled as queer musicians in the music industry, especially those from a working-class background..." adds Jamie Irrespressible. "It’s getting easier for queer musicians these days, but there is still little support for musicians working in the field of popular music. Myself and fellow queer music industry professionals Liam Walsh and Paul Bonham will make the final selection this year and every year.”
Tickets for True Pride are now available here.
Gareth Johnson