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What's happening? Live updates throughout the bank holiday weekend
Let us know your experience of getting into the gay village, being served, the ticket scheme and Manchester Pride weekend in general. Our email form is here. Also we have a link where you can upload video directly to us (ask for it).
We have a pop-up Facebook group during the month of August.
16:40 From Tom by email: "I tried to enter through the wristband pick-up entrance, and despite having a wristband, I was declined entry and the security guard physically instructed me from passing. I told them it was a public right of way, to which they said 'Actually, under Martin's Law, it's not.' - which is a misrepresentation of the law, and more importantly, the law isn't in force yet."
Note: we don't think Martyn's Law can be applied to a public street which everyone should have free access to. Also, if they have implemented that, why are some people getting in without bands and others not? We don't think selling wristbands prevents terrorism...
Flashback to 1991 and the completely free Carnival of Fun Weekend, when denim shorts and your dog were allowed. How far we've come!
15:40 On the Mint Community group on Facebook Gareth writes "me and my friends had our bags searched and where allowed in.... with no wrist band.... our other friend was made to pay £40 and only wanted to come into the village... also another friend was not allowed in with his pet dog in a pram.... and he walked right round to another gate and was allowed in with the dog in the pram...
"I also witnessed door staff saying to people 'your not coming into the village wearing that'.... this was at the Piccadilly station entrance.."
And also this from David: "Defo not fake news. I tried to enter and the security grabbed my arm and physically wouldn’t let me pass. I got in at different entrance after another group of people were complaining to the security with us."
However, Jake posts "I’ve walked in twice without a wristband."
13:40 Nnoitra sent an email and says: "Signage was put up at the entrances to canal street reading "No Wristband NO entry". Several people were refused entry, however when I started filming the mood changed I hid my wristband so no one could see, I got in without being asked if I had a wristband I believe this was because I was overtly filming them."
11:05 If you feel you have been misled into buying a wristband that you didn't need you can do a chargeback on your card. The consumer organisation "Which" says "the Misrepresentation Act exists to protect consumers from false or fraudulent claims that induce you into buying something or entering into a contract. It also allows you to claim damages."
The Manchester Evening News article includes a photo of a sign on one gate which states "for everyone's safety no wristband no entry." That is a false statement. A misrepresentation of the true situation and one which will likely lead to some members of the public paying for wristbands unnecessarily. The photo could be useful if you pursue a card chargeback.
10:30 Ian tells us: "was stopped from entering yesterday 23/08/2025 after telling the security that i legally have access to walk through. This was with him trying to physcially stop me. His supervisor then stepped in and told him that they can't stop me from entering."
07:30 on Facebook Danny comments that this "continues to be a scandal." He notes that security repeatedly ask "have you got a band?" often with GMP police officers standing next to them. Are the police backing the law breaking Manchester Pride once again?
22:55 Paul believes people may have "unrestricted access via Minshull Street." Worth a try. Let us know what happens...
18:00 The Manchester News reports that some people have been turned away from the gay village and were told they needed a wristband to enter. The MEN has asked Manchester Pride for comment. It isn't clear to us why this is happening. We have received one report of it.
We will certainly involve the Department For Transport and Local Government Ombudsman again if this continues to be a problem over the weekend. Back in 2015 the Local Government Ombudsman said it was unlawful to do this and there's no reason to think it isn't unlawful now.
18:00 Welcome to our live blog for 2024.
FACTS! Our 2022 factsheet is available to download. As a PDF here. Or as images (handy for sharing on Facebook & Twitter!): page 1 | page 2
Older factsheets can be found on this page and are still well worth a read.
You can see our Live Blog pages from 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.
Our 2022 Factsheet (PDF) about Manchester Pride is available. This and factsheets from previous years give all the information you need. Read about your right to access the Gay Village without buying a wristband, history & opinion.
Download the PDF version.
And here it is as two images (handy for sharing on social media): page 1 | page 2
Our factsheet from 2021 is still well-worth a look. It has four pages of facts, gossip and fun. Download it as a PDF here. See our factsheets page for other years.
The ruling by the Local Government Ombudsman in April 2015 (PDF). The Ombudsman decided that Manchester City Council had exceeded its powers by mentioning wristbands in a traffic order and that it was unlawful to restrict access to premises (businesses and homes).
Minutes of a meeting at Marketing Manchester in November 2002. These show that those present were told they couldn't charge people to enter public streets. However some of them went ahead and did so from 2003 onwards for a decade.
At the meeting were: Manchester City Council, GHT, the LGF (now known as the LGBT Foundation), Marketing Manchester, the organisers of Europride 2003. The advice seems to have come from the police. Yet the police apparently then turned a blind eye...
This document was unearthed at the Library Archives quite recently by a FactsMCR campaigner.
Since the ruling by the Local Government Ombudsman in 2015 the media — both LGBT and mainstream — have stayed silent about the decade-long wristband fiddle and your rights. So some people continue to pay unnecessarily.
All your favourites know: GayStarNews, Pink News, Manchester Evening News, The Guardian, BBC and many more. In a letter to us, the BBC defended its journalist right not to report this. The same BBC that championed consumer rights at one time now prefers to cosy up to the civil-rights-infringing Manchester Pride, as a "sponsor" (the BBC says it doesn't give money).
These organisations don't need to lie. They simply ignore an issue completely. Or, they report some of the facts; perhaps popping in just one or two bits they don't like, to add a fake impression of balance. That's how they manipulate opinion in the direction they think it should go.
The veteran ITV reporter John Pilger says that "not reporting" is the most powerful form of censorship.
What else aren't they telling us?
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