SCENE: Manchester’s LGBTQ+ Film and TV Festival returns this Summer, running from 20th to 27th August, with a week-long programme of screenings, panels, parties and bold queer storytelling across the city as part of the new Manchester Village Pride Fringe.
As an official Fringe partner, SCENE is proud to support Manchester Village Pride, the community interest company leading the city’s Pride celebrations in 2026, with profits from event and screening ticket sales donated to the CIC to support five LGBTQ+ charities across the city – George House Trust, Albert Kennedy Trust, The Proud Trust, LGBT Foundation and Sparkle.
Gary Williams, Head of Events at CityCo (producers of SCENE Festival), says:
“We’re thrilled to be back for a third annual edition of SCENE, which has been such a hit with audiences and has firmly embedded itself as a mainstay of the cultural calendar. Last year we doubled our festival attendance and we’re excited to invite a melting pot of people from Manchester and across the UK and beyond to come and take a walk in the shoes of our community through powerful storytelling.
SCENE 2026 will be a mix of exclusive screenings of new work by top LGBTQ filmmakers and TV hits of the year plus celebrations of classic queer movies and telly, panels and parties and we’re so excited to be working alongside Manchester Village Pride as part of a reborn Pride. The new community run festival with a focus on fundraising for LGBTQ charities is so exciting. Add in a 12 day cultural fringe with a world class film and TV festival as its keystone event and it all means Manchester’s Pride celebrations this August are totally unique and totally unmissable.”
Andrew Underwood, Manchester Village Pride Volunteer and Board Member, says:
“We are delighted to work with SCENE as one of our fringe partners. Working together to create a citywide celebration highlighting our stories and ensuring our creatives have a platform of LGBTQ+ events culminating with the village festival.”
SCENE 2026 will continue to celebrate rising and established queer talent from across the globe, while showcasing Manchester’s vibrant queer stories on screen. The festival returns to iconic venues across the city – including Aviva Studios: home of Factory International, HOME, New Century Hall, CULTPLEX and Manchester’s Gay Village – with a week of co-programmed events as part of the Manchester Village Pride Fringe.
Ticket profits – including 25% of booking fees from ticketing partner Skiddle – will be donated to the Manchester Pride Charity, supporting LGBTQ+ communities and projects across the city. As always, accessibility and inclusivity are at the heart of the event, with many tickets available for £5 and some events offered for free. For festival attendees looking to make an extended visit, a range of exclusive hotel offers, and packages will be available from participating city centre hotels throughout the duration of the festival.
Highlights from the 2025 edition of SCENE included a vibrant mix of screenings paired with in-conversation events, bringing audiences closer to the creatives behind their screen favourites – from Neil Ely’s raw and honest Departures to the BBC breakout hit What It Feels Like for a Girl, alongside nostalgic retrospectives such as Jonathan Harvey’s moving Beautiful Thing (1994), a 10-year anniversary celebration of Channel 4’s iconic comedy Cucumber (2015) with Russell T Davies, and the Macauley Culkin cult classic Party Monster (2003) with the creators of RuPaul’s Drag Race Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato.
Beyond the screen, the festival delivered standout live moments including Channel 4’s An Altogether Different Comedy Night and the gloriously irreverent Victoria Wood-A-Thon, celebrating queer culture through drag, performance, and nostalgia. The wider programme featured a rich mix of events including a special 30th anniversary showing of Showgirls (1995), and a moving tribute to Meredith Monk with a screening of Monk in Pieces alongside a live performance from the renowned Manchester Camerata.
Last year’s event also saw the return of the fan-favourite First Street outdoor screen, which embraced a “Musicals” theme, offering free screenings of beloved classics including The Wizard of Oz, Mean Girls and Wicked. In venues across the city, the festival highlighted the richness and diversity of LGBTQ+ storytelling, bringing together community, creativity and celebration in all its forms.
Stay tuned for programming announcements in the coming months.
Sign up for further updates and ticket announcements at scenefestival.com
Instagram: @SCENE_Festival
For press enquiries, images or interview requests, please contact: Premier Comms | scene@premiercomms.com
Imagery from the 2025 festival available: HERE
ENDS
EDITORS NOTES
ABOUT SCENE
SCENE: Manchester’s LGBTQ+ Film and TV Festival celebrates the the very best in new and classic LGBT+ cinema and television, bringing together incredible talent from across the industry. The event showcases a dynamic mix of premieres, exclusive previews, much-loved classics, Q&As, panels and parties.
Launched in 2024, line-ups have featured interactive screenings and vibrant panels including the casts of BBC’s What It Feels Like for a Girl and Lost Boys and Fairies, Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, the duo behind RuPaul’s Drag Race, the iconic Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh, famed TV writer Jonathan Harvey, host of Talk Art podcast Robert Diament, iconic film-makers John Waters and David Weissman – and Russell T Davies, screenwriter and creator of some of the most iconic LGBTQ+ stories in TV history. The festival has also staged a Channel 4 live comedy night and performances by Manchester Camerata.
As the home of MediaCity, Queer as Folk, and innovative series like the lesbian witch drama Domino Day, Manchester is the perfect setting for a festival that honours queer film, TV and new media.
The week-long 2026 festival will run from Thursday 20th – Thursday 27th August. The festival offers a combination of ticketed and free events, with a portion of profits donated to Manchester Village Pride’s chosen local charities.
SCENE is curated and delivered by CityCo, The City Centre Management Company on behalf of the city’s hoteliers – Manchester Accommodation BID (ABID).
More info about the SCENE programme: scenefestival.com
More info about the Manchester Accommodation BID: manchesterabid.com
ABOUT MANCHESTER VILLAGE PRIDE
Manchester Village Pride CIC (MVP) has been established by LGBTQ+ Village businesses and community stakeholders to ensure that a safe, credible, inclusive and celebratory Pride event takes place in Manchester in 2026.
Following the collapse of the previous Manchester Pride organisation, there was a real risk that core Pride traditions — including the Parade, the Village Party and the Vigil — could be lost. In response, the Village community, supported by city partners, stepped forward to protect Pride’s future and bring it home.
The organisation is working with and supported by key city partners, including Manchester City Council, Marketing Manchester, CityCo, and Equity, alongside LGBTQ+ organisations, charities and community stakeholders.
Manchester Village Pride CIC (MVP) has been established by LGBTQ+ Village businesses and community stakeholders. It is led by a board of directors who are entirely unpaid volunteers, giving their time, skills, and experience freely. This matters because it shows that MVP is driven by commitment, not personal gain. Every director is making a significant personal contribution to ensure Pride returns to its roots — as a Pride built by the community, for the community.
Being unpaid allows more of every pound raised to be directed back where it belongs: supporting LGBTQ+ charities, grassroots organisations, and vital community services. It reinforces MVP’s core purpose – to give as much as possible back to the community that Pride exists to serve.
In an ever-changing world, the need for Pride is more important than ever. By buying a wristband or day pass, Pride-goers are not just gaining access to an event – they are helping to protect, sustain, and celebrate our community for generations to come.
MVP Dates: Friday 28th – Monday 31st August 2026
Location: Manchester Gay Village
Tickets & Info: manchestervillagepride.org
