Guides
What's on
Where to go
See all

Guides
What's on
Where to go
See all

Manchester Pride’s Community Sessions

Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities Editor

Visit now

Pride Community Sessions

The Proud Place, Manchester
25 July 2023

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Free
Photo by Anete Lusina
Book now

Manchester Pride is well known for being one of the best parties of the summer. With headliners this year including Brazilian drag phenomenon Pablo Vitar and national icon, Natasha Beddingfield, it’s all too easy to be swept up in the good vibes and forget that Pride’s roots lie in serving and supporting communities. In the lead up to the weekend of Manchester Pride, the organisation are hosting monthly Community Sessions at The Proud Place. Each session platforms a different issue faced by LGBTQ+ communities. Experts, professionals working within activism and care and those with lived experience gather together to discuss these issues on both macro and micro levels. It’s a space for people to share knowledge and resources as well as meet others with similar experiences to them in a city which celebrates the diversity of its LGBTQ+ residents.

Pride teams up with local organisations specialising in a particular area to host the space and bring their knowledge and experience to the discussion. This month they are collaborating with House of Rainbow and inviting the Queer Muslims of Manchester to join a discussion on how the community can platform and support LGBTQ+ people of faith. House of Rainbow are an organisation that provide holistic pastoral care for those who are struggling with their identity and faith. They use a model of emotional and spiritual support related to cultures and traditions for Black African Caribbean origins.

Whether you identify as LGBTQ+, a person of any faith, an ally, a community leader or an advocate, these discussions are vital to spread understanding of the experiences of the marginalised communities within the LBGTQ+ community. They provide a space for strategies to be developed, allowing society to gradually move a bit closer to being inclusive and supportive to everyone.

Refreshments are provided at sessions so it’s advised to specify any dietary requirements when registering for a free ticket. Check in with the Manchester Pride website to find out the topics of discussion each month.

Where to go near Manchester Pride’s Community Sessions

Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Eighth Day

Eighth Day is a co-operative shop that sells ethically-sourced food, wine and cosmetics. There’s also café that serves hearty, healthy meals in the basement.

Johnny Roadhouse store
Manchester
Shop
Johnny Roadhouse

Buffeted by fried chicken outlets, legendary musical instrument emporium Johnny Roadhouse has been serving the local music community for over 50 years.

Manchester
Catalog Bookshop

Find Peter and his Christiania cargo bike around All Saints Park, a hop, skip and a bunnyhop from Manchester Poetry Library.

Manchester
Restaurant
Firebird Hope

They claim to sell the ‘best chicken and vegan chicken sandwich in Manchester’ and they’re absolutely right.

Manchester
Restaurant
Ol Brewery Bar

A nano brewery and keg bar, Ol is a meeting of minds between Takk and Byrne The Cake brewery.

Manchester
Restaurant
Mama Z

Top class Filipino cuisine currently based at pop-up central, Hatch.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
Sandbar

Sandbar, just off Oxford Road in Manchester, is a well-loved watering hole, with a great selection of ales and some eccentric seating.

Manchester
Music venue
The Deaf Institute

The Deaf Institute is a vibrant gig venue and nightclub for which it is well worth taking a jaunt out of the Northern Quarter.

See all places

What's on:

deathcrash Press Image
MusicManchester
deathcrash at YES

Quiet introspection and cathartic eruptions – the mysterious kids in the corner of the Brixton Windmill scene bring their new album Somersaults to YES.

From £17.45

Culture Guides

A busy image created using generative AI. The image depicts a man at the centre with grey hair and rosy cheeks, surrounding him are fairies that appear to be created in his own image with multiple limbs and unique bodily proportions. Around them are hundreds of vials, microscopes and dated scientific equipment.
Exhibitions

Spring has sprung a wealth of great exhibitions in the North West, from intimate photographic shows to huge installations.

SILVERWINGKILLER - Press Image
Music

Our latest music picks spotlight a new underground Manchester scene gaining national attention, alongside jazz, contemporary classical and more.

Theatre

Closer, riskier, more immediate. Our small-scale theatre picks stretch from unsettling fables about nationhood to the inner workings of a mind trying to hold itself together.

Food and Drink in the North

Spring is here, so sign yourself up for some much-missed al fresco dining at these highly recommended (and mostly new) Manchester restaurants.

Emily Lloyd-Saini as Grace in Space and Harrie Hayes as Lieutenant Strong in Horrible Science
Family things to do in the North

Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

There's no shortage of great films out at the moment, whether you're looking for the latest blockbuster, that hot arthouse flick fresh from Cannes or a cosy classic.

See all guides