GREATER MANCHESTER EVENT UNVEILS 2026 PLANS WITH U-TURN ON MAJOR DECISION
A huge Pride event in Greater Manchester has unveiled early details on its 2026 festival - which has seen organisers U-turn on a big decision which divided audiences this year.
Salford Pride will once again bring its popular The Pink Picnic event to Peel Park, with next year’s event now confirmed to take place on Saturday, June 13. This year’s event featured performances from the likes of Cher Lloyd, Ultrabeat, Banksie and Atomic Kitten star Natasha Hamilton.
But, ahead of the LGBTQ+ festival this year, the team behind the Salford Pride charity announced it would be changing its drinks policy. In previous years, attendees had been able to bring in their own drinks but in 2025 organisers said no alcoholic drinks would be allowed inside and they could only be bought from the on-site bars.
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The decision was made due to ‘incidents of antisocial behaviour’ in recent years due to excessive alcohol consumption. The charity said such incidents had increased year-on-year.
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After announcing the ban on bringing alcohol, bosses said they had been met with a large number of ‘abusive comments on social media’ and condemned those who had sent in such messages. In a statement, the chair of the charity added ‘we would like to remind everyone that PRIDE is not about alcohol. Our event is a celebration of diversity, inclusion and community - a space where everyone can feel safe, accepted, and free to be themselves’.
The June 2025 festival - which was attended by more than 6,500 people - was met with sunny weather and the addition of the ban saw the on-site bars struggle to keep up with demand from attendees, who reported long queues and large wait times to get drinks.
With the 2026 event marking the 15th anniversary of Salford Pride, organisers predict it will be bigger than ever and could potentially surpass its expected 8,500 turn-out.
As a result, and following feedback from this year’s Pink Picnic, entry requirements regarding alcohol have been relaxed. Adults, aged 18 and above, will be able to bring in up to four cans of alcohol on their first entry. However, leaving and re-entering the event with alcohol will not be permitted.
Marcus Taylor, Chair of Salford Pride, said: “We are so proud to be celebrating our fifteenth anniversary in 2026 and we’ll be throwing our biggest event to date to celebrate!
“The Pink Picnic is a community event that is organised and delivered entirely by a group of dedicated Salford Pride volunteers and without them, there’d be no event so I just want to extend a massive thank you to every single person who has volunteered with us over the past 15 years.”
Early bird tickets for Salford Pride’s Pink Picnic, which will take place on June 13, 2026, are now available online, with prices starting from £5 before booking fees. All ticket sales go directly into putting on The Pink Picnic event.
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2025-11-10T18:13:32Z