Manchester Pride DEAD... Broke

VoR

VoR

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www.bbc.co.uk

Manchester Pride goes bust with thousands owed in unpaid fees

Organisers say the event is no longer "financially viable", blaming rising costs and declining ticket sales.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

This has been developing for several months, with soaring prices combined with local performers going unpaid months after the event.

I'm sure it'll bounce back in some form, but it definitely feels like it's been woefully mismanaged in recent years. Paying 350k for Ariana Grande in 2019 was the epitome of girlbossing too close to the sun.
 
does this mean no pride march etc, or just no pride performers and ticketed event?
 
Probably a bit of an opportunity to take things back to its roots. Somewhat indistinguishable from the likes of Hoopla in recent years, no?
 
Jark said:
does this mean no pride march etc, or just no pride performers and ticketed event?
Click to expand...

I'm sure someone will pick it up. I assume Manchester City Council will want it to go ahead.
 
It's not referenced in the article, so I am very possibly on the wrong track.

But how dependent were they on corporate funding? I know it's been a theme in the last year or two that a lot of smaller Pride events have really suffered for "diversity" becoming unfashionable with the giant international mega-corps who used to provide sponsorship.
 
Shoat said:
It's not referenced in the article, so I am very possibly on the wrong track.

But how dependent were they on corporate funding? I know it's been a theme in the last year or two that a lot of smaller Pride events have really suffered for "diversity" becoming unfashionable with the giant international mega-corps who used to provide sponsorship.
Click to expand...

This is an interesting read, but it seems like lots of people are laying the blame on the CEO for being a bit overzealous with splashing the cash to make the "festival" side of things happen.

I don't think they got the offer right there. The headliners this year were a '00s popstar, last year's Eurovision entry and everyone's third favourite member of a girlband gone solo. You used to be able to see that kind of act in a carpark in the village. Nobody was paying £80 for that.

manchestermill.co.uk

Bad bets: How Manchester Pride gambled on scale - and lost

Insiders blame ‘reckless spending decisions’ and a board who lost control of one of the city’s biggest events
manchestermill.co.uk manchestermill.co.uk
 
VoR said:
www.bbc.co.uk

Manchester Pride goes bust with thousands owed in unpaid fees

Organisers say the event is no longer "financially viable", blaming rising costs and declining ticket sales.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

This has been developing for several months, with soaring prices combined with local performers going unpaid months after the event.

I'm sure it'll bounce back in some form, but it definitely feels like it's been woefully mismanaged in recent years. Paying 350k for Ariana Grande in 2019 was the epitome of girlbossing too close to the sun.
Click to expand...
£350k for Ariana Grande in 2019 sounds like good value to me.
 
GNL said:
This is an interesting read, but it seems like lots of people are laying the blame on the CEO for being a bit overzealous with splashing the cash to make the "festival" side of things happen.

I don't think they got the offer right there. The headliners this year were a '00s popstar, last year's Eurovision entry and everyone's third favourite member of a girlband gone solo. You used to be able to see that kind of act in a carpark in the village. Nobody was paying £80 for that.

manchestermill.co.uk

Bad bets: How Manchester Pride gambled on scale - and lost

Insiders blame ‘reckless spending decisions’ and a board who lost control of one of the city’s biggest events
manchestermill.co.uk manchestermill.co.uk
Click to expand...

This is a pretty damning read. Totally losing sight of it's origins and trying to just be a GAY Reading Festival. I know it won't really have been the straw that broke the camel's back - but anybody who is slashing charitable funding at the same time as accepting a 20% pay rise probably isn't the right person to be leading this kind of organisation. Who the fuck was enabling Fletcher though - he cops a lot of the blame in the article, but he presumably didn't have sole control of the purse strings.
 
I often wondered when Brighton first started its big acts how they’d manage to afford it, but when you go, you see how popular it is. It’s obviously the blueprint. Just with less gays banging about.
 
I used to work for Pride and am very conscious about what I say where and have kept quiet publicly about my experiences of working there but what I will say is that Ariana Grande didn’t have a fee for Manchester Pride, there were associated costs for her booking but she didn’t take a fee.
 
I don’t work there now so have no idea who (if anyone) has been or will be paid from the headliners this year but I know a lot of people who are very out of pocket and will have to find additional work to cover the gap.

Manchester Pride has been mismanaged for many years and I’m sorry for the people involved who won’t be paid, the employees who do their best with what they were instructed to do and the part of the wider public who will see this as a win for further marginalising gay people… but while the organisation is gone, pride will absolutely remain
 
Maybe we’ll find out the CEO did a SANTOS and spent it all on FERRAGAMO LOATHERS and a purse from HERMES.
 
Berly said:
I don’t work there now so have no idea who (if anyone) has been or will be paid from the headliners this year but I know a lot of people who are very out of pocket and will have to find additional work to cover the gap.

Manchester Pride has been mismanaged for many years and I’m sorry for the people involved who won’t be paid, the employees who do their best with what they were instructed to do and the part of the wider public who will see this as a win for further marginalising gay people… but while the organisation is gone, pride will absolutely remain
Click to expand...
The idea of trying to make people pay to access the village was wild and from what I’ve read very unpopular.
 
big ron said:
The idea of trying to make people pay to access the village was wild and from what I’ve read very unpopular.
Click to expand...
That’s been the case for more than twenty years, of course in recent years the prices just went up stupidly high, and you could always access the village without a wristband (just not their staged areas) but I do agree that there should be some way to keep people safe and have crowd control.

I don’t demand to walk through Heaton Park when Parklife is on because it’s where I walk my dog every other day of the year
 
Berly said:
I used to work for Pride and am very conscious about what I say where and have kept quiet publicly about my experiences of working there but what I will say is that Ariana Grande didn’t have a fee for Manchester Pride, there were associated costs for her booking but she didn’t take a fee.
Click to expand...
That doesn't surprise me. She's kept a close connection to Manchester, mostly unpublicised.
 
GNL said:
I'm sure someone will pick it up. I assume Manchester City Council will want it to go ahead.
Click to expand...
Glasgow City Council went ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ when Glasgow Pride folded after refusing entry to ticket holders because they'd let too many of their chums in on the guestlist (and overselling the event, a fatal combination). So we'll see. Now that it's "divisive" and "political" again, Pride can get back to its roots - it was heartening to see No Pride In Genocide being by far the largest block in Glasgow this year.
 
I was gonna say - it might not be the worst thing if Pride becomes less about cliquey white muscle gays taking over the village to see X big popstar and get content for instagram. smaller numbers can equate to a better spirit on the ground and more of a sense of activism. I'm sure Manchester will not let nothing happen. there's always a drag queen who'll do the bingo...
 
Many years ago Portsmouth tried the "gated" paid stage area, but no one clocked that it was sat next to a hill, so literally EVERYONE just sat on the hill and watched the acts with probably a better view than inside. I mean, Hazell Dean was the headliner, it was fairly low rent, but the hill was rammed and literally tens of people wandering around inside. We didn't have a Pride for quite a while after that, but they've done well to bring it back free and much, much bigger the last few years...
 
Pride getting back to its roots is a nice thought, but now it's divisive and political again you really do need someone to pay the security bill.
 
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