Euphoric portraits from Manchester Pride 2025

This year’s Manchester Pride had some big names headlining – from R&B legend Nelly Furtado to Hollywood star Billie Porter – but it also served as a showcase for the city’s underground queer talent. Last weekend, Dazed Club curator and multidisciplinary artist Gracie Brackstone headed to Manchester to capture the most interesting and important events, taking in club nights, fashion shows, and a powerful candlelit vigil.

Mardi Gras – a two-day event held between Mayfield Depot and Freight Island – was a new addition to this year’s Pride. Brackstone arrived on Saturday, just in time to see a takeover by FLY GIRLS$, a DJ collective who have been throwing some of Manchester’s hottest queer parties. “The girls looked so beautiful and they were waving both Palestine and trans flags during their performances,” she tells Dazed. Next up was Coco Cannell, a local drag artist who took to the stage in a white-tasselled cowboy suit and performed Coco’s Rodeo, an intricately choreographed tribute to Beyoncé. “It actually left my mouth on the ground and was up there with one of the best drag performances I have ever seen,” Brackstone says.

Mardi Gras also provided a platform for Manchester’s flourishing fashion scene. Banksie, a model and drag artist, staged a runway show featuring up-and-coming local designers Becca Duffy, aseanstudios,  The Other Studio, and Liquorice Black. The models taking part included some of the Manchester scene’s biggest names, including drag artist Viola, actor Sam Buttery, singer-songwriter Meme Gold, and Willow Stone, a performer, model and stylist. “Banksie has been putting these on runway shows for years – I have even been in one myself a few years back – and this one was so beautifully put together,” the photographer says.

Outside of Mardi Gras, she attended parties at venues all over the city, including sets by Riot Party, High Hoops and Fastlove. “The queens, dolls, kings and every other performer, DJ, or creative involved in making pride what it was had worked so hard, as they do all year round, and it is so inspiring to see how everyone takes so many different and beautiful forms,” she says.

Alongside the partying, Manchester Pride provided space for some important conversations. According to Brackstone, these topics included Palestine and how the queer community needs to support the movement; the persistence of misogyny among cis gay men, and how this is often wielded against trans women and lesbians; and the issues of drug use and mental health. “Clubs are a space where queer people can discover themselves, and I have done that myself over the years, but friendships are our lifelines. While drugs and alcohol often come part-in-parcel with partying, they can also isolate people by working as a barrier against them,” Brackstone says. One thing she’ll take away from this year’s Pride is the importance of checking up on your friends.

The weekend ended with a candlelit vigil at Sackville Gardens. Organised in partnership with HIV charity George House Trust, this tradition began as a way of memorialising those lost to HIV, but has since expanded to pay tribute to members of the community who have died due to other causes. This year’s vigil, organised by creative director Nathanial J Hall, featured a range of performances and speeches, including by It’s a Sin creator Russel T Davies, Sam Buttery, and the Proud Chorus. “Adam Ali honoured our friend Ashiq, also known as Bbydoll, who passed away last summer”, says Grace. During his speech, Ali – who is an actor – also spoke about the “slow creep of the far right, our bodies policed, our rights threatened, not just in this country but around the world” and expressed solidarity with the people of Congo, Sudan and Palestine. “I am sick of bomb droppings being labelled as liberation, our struggle being co-opted as justification for their crimes”, he said.

Even in her absence, Ashiq’s presence was felt all across Manchester. “She would have been booked to perform at parties this weekend too, or at least she would be supporting all our friends who were,” says Brackstone. “She took up space in many of our conversations – I can imagine that this is the case for a lot of our community, who also feel the conflict between celebrating Pride and the feeling of loss, as these are always the occasions when you think about those who are missing the most.” As thousands of candles lit up the sky, and summer drew to a close, Gracie reflected that the queer community needs to continue loving and fighting for each other all year round. 

Visit the gallery above for a closer look.