Canal Street Online Manchester

Manchester Pride Saturday

Pride really got into it’s stride yesterday and Manchester showed the world how we got the reputation of being the 24 hour party capital. Chris Park was there to capture all the action.

Parade
The parade was the biggest parade ever this year and took a full ninety minutes to work it’s way through the streets of Manchester which were filled with people giving off a wonderful carnival atmosphere.
The parade this year was led by our own Lord Mayor, Carl Austin Behan and his husband Simon. Many organisations had really gone to town on the Once Upon A Time theme, the Coronation Street float at the beginning of the procession and the Barclays float at the back had particularly got into the swing of things.

Mark Fletcher, Chief Executive for Manchester Pride said “Today we’ve seen some of the most inspired parade entries ever. It has been the longest parade that Manchester Pride has ever organised and the city has yet again come out to celebrate and support the many LGBT people that live in this brilliant city”.

M.O.
Over at the main stage and girlband M.O. opened proceedings with an incredibly strong performance opening with Dance On My Own which got the crowd up and going instantly. They did a great reworking of Destiny’s Child classic Bug A Boo as well as Whitney’s How Will I Know.
They left the stage to Love The Most and the party was now most definitely on.

Damon Hess
Corrie stalwarts Kym Marsh and Anthony Cotton did presenting duties for the next act, it was especially exciting for Kym as her daughter, Emily Cunliffe, was due to perform the final song of DJ Damon Hess’ set with their new single, Dancefloor.

Hess took the crowd through a killer set with dancers before a clearly nervous Emily took to the stage but she took command of her nerves and delivered a great performance. There is definitely a future there for Ms Cunliffe.

K Klass
Later on in the evening and old skool rave was the order of the day with K-Klass taking us back in time.  As darkness descended, the arena was turned into a huge acid house party with classics such as Let Me Show You, Bobby Brown cover Two Can Play At That Game and of course Rhythm is a Mystery.

Heather Peace
Pride patron Heather Peace once again has taken command of Sackville Gardens, turning it into a chilled alternative to the heady atmosphere of the main arena or dance arena.
Canal St online caught up with Peace to discuss how she picks the set list to compliment this wonderland.

“I have a few contacts at BBC Radio Manchester” she explains “and we did a competition for my Thin Line Tour which had different support acts in each city so I had a wealth of brilliant people and had to pick my way through that really. Then I’ve got Joe Slater who was on Waterloo Road, he is here with his own band.”

With the many events that have happened in the last twelve months since Canal St Online spoke to Peace, does she feel that the vibe of Pride has changed? “There are a few more political messages, people want to say something about it definitely. I think in general in society things have felt very divisive. Often it happens when we’ve had huge leaps forward, I’m not saying it’s to do with equal marriage or anything like that but when things are so progressive there’s always something that tries to pull it back whether its Trump in America or things that happen here so I think people need Pride for feeling they’re together, feeling a sense of unity.”

For more of Canal St Online’s exclusive interview with Heather, please see our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/canalstreetonline.

MNEK
Back at the main stage and massively rising star MNEK took command of proceedings taking us through his hits both as a solo artist and collaborations. The crowd were literally eating out of the palm of his hand, going crazy for Ready For Your Love, 100%, Never Forget You and At Night I Think About You.

Canal St Online met MNEK before he went on stage to find out what Pride means to him.

“I think Pride for me is obviously pride in your sexuality, pride in being free, in being who you are and as a gay artist myself it is really great that there are things to come and perform at. It’s like a family thing”.

So what does he have planned once he leaves the stage? “I’m having a night out in the village, I love partying in Manchester and I love Pride events so I’m gonna have some fun, I’ve got my boyfriend here, I’ve got my best friend Ryan so we’re all going to have a good time”.

For more of Canal St Online’s exclusive interview with MNEK, please subscribe to our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/canalstreetonline.

Katy B
Closing duties went to Katy B and she did not disappoint, the show she put on was high energy and complete with surprise performance from MNEK on Freak Like Me which everyone lapped up. Katy B is a natural born entertainer and was a blur most of the time as she dashed from one side of the stage to the other, getting the crowd jumping. When she launched into Broken Record/Let Me Be Your Fantasy everyone’s hands were in the air and they didn’t come down through recent classics such as Lights On and Katy On A Mission.

So another brilliant day down Canal St, stay tuned for more.
By Chris Park for Canal St Online

Published: 28-Aug-2016: (3871)

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