What a fantastic
weekend. As always
Manchester
laid on another Bank-Holiday, action-packed few days of fun. This year (2000)
the
Pride event was called "Gay Fest", instead of the previous "Mardi Gras". The whole event
is there to celebrate being gay and raise loads of money for charity. It's
always been the case until last year the money mysteriously failed to materialise, despite being the busiest year ever. This year's new committee was
made up of 11 volunteers and headed by a chap called Brian Shaw. They took over
to organise the event and have promised to raise the much needed charity funds.
It didn't seem as busy as previous years but
was just as fun. The weather was partly to blame, certainly not encouraging
attendance levels. There was no main stage, which disappointed many people, but
must have brought the overall cost down considerably. Because the wrist-band
idea had been scrapped there were many more straight people venturing onto
Canal Street (the
gay village). Which is both a good and bad thing depending on how you look at
it. The bars were all packed both inside and out, making it hard to move but
great for talent spotting. Like all gay events it's a place to catch up and
bump into friends you haven't done for ages. The atmosphere was buzzing and the
alcohol was flowing. The evening parties carried it all on into the early hours
of the following morning.
The Parade took place on the Saturday afternoon. We were on the Manto float,
which included a tank and people carrier on hire from the army.
The clubs were all
buzzing with sexy boys, muscle mary's and party people. The Manto Group put on
a fantastic line-up of entertainment. On Saturday they took over Manchester's University
for a 5 room dance extravaganza, featuring Paradise Factory, Trade, Crash and
Manto. On Sunday the big one was at the Granada Studios `Treat in the Street
6`. To rival this they put on a massive party in the newly refurbished
`Infinity Nightclub`. It was a great venue and turned out to be a corker of a
night with a atmosphere to match. When this finished at 4am they carried it on
back at there own venue Paradise Factory till 10am called "HouseWork - the
final blow-out", and what a blow-out it was!
Well done to all whom made it what
it was, with a special mention to Jonathan, Shawn, Anne and Patsy. Thanks.
Check out the Manchester Pride web site:
ManchesterPride.com
