Originals

Manchester Pride: 5 of the campest moments from 2022’s celebrations

By Conor Clark

31st August 2022

Manchester Pride returned in full force over the Bank Holiday weekend, with thousands of people turning out to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and protest for equality.

It marked the first time that the event took place since “significant” changes were made to the organisation following a six-month review.

This came after backlash from members of the LGBTQ+ community who felt that the city’s Pride was becoming too commercialised.

As part of the changes, MCR Pride Live, which has seen stars like Ariana Grande and Olly Alexander perform, did not go ahead this year as part of a wider effort to “refocus its efforts back onto its activist roots”.

Instead, performances took place across three stages around Canal Street from 26 to 29 August, the line-up of which was co-designed with Manchester’s queer communities.

Key attractions such as the Parade and the Candlelit Vigil still took place as normal.

GAY TIMES attended the festivities and, unsurprisingly, it delivered some of the campest moments of 2022 so far

Bailey J Mills swings a breastplate over their head

During their time on the Alan Turing stage on 27 August, Bailey J Mills delivered a truly show stopping performance. Believe it or not, jumping off stage to replicate a scene from Titanic with the front row wasn’t the campest thing to come out of their set. During Bailey’s lip-sync to Halo by Beyoncé, they revealed their breastplate, removed it and proceeded to swing it over the head until chucking a peace sign at the audience as the song ended. There truly are no words. 

“So what if I like the beach and the city?”

@gaytimes she likes the beach AND the city, people! #nadinecoyle #nadinecoylegirlsaloud #nadinecoyleaccent #nadinecoylenow #manchesterpride ♬ original sound – GAY TIMES

Camp and Nadine Coyle being mentioned in an article about Manchester Pride? Hardly surprising. Regardless, the Girls Aloud star gave diehard fans everything they wanted and more with a setlist made up of the group’s biggest hits, including Sound of the Underground, Call the Shots, Something New and Biology. At one point, she began to get emotional before jokingly calling herself a “stupid bitch” for crying on stage. The self aware queen also made it known that she’s familiar with the memes that exist about her and at one point stopped to ask the audience: “Hey, don’t we get a wild rough time having a derry accent? So what if I like the beach and the city!” High camp.

Glitzy Von Jagger gives birth on stage

If you thought throwing an aubergine into the crowd or wearing an outfit inspired by Elsa from Frozen was the campest moment from Glitzy Von Jagger’s set, then fair enough, can’t really argue with that when every second was completely over the top. That said, giving birth numerous times on stage with the help of your backup dancers is not only camp, but truly iconic. Following it through with an outfit AND baby bump reveal? Fierce. ““Well, I do like to do things that I’ve not seen,” she previously told GAY TIMES. “It probably has been done even if I haven’t seen it, but I do try to take a different approach.”

Victoria Scone wearing a cow-themed lewk

What can be said about Victoria Scone’s lewk at Manchester Pride? It doesn’t get more camp than a cow-themed costume padded to the high heavens, except when paired with a green bedazzled eyepatch and a bright pink wig – as you do. Once on stage, the Drag Race UK star performed her own rendition of Get the Party Started by P!nk, but not before getting the audience to guess which song she was about to sing by beatboxing it first (spoiler alert, it was Valerie by Amy Winehouse). Sometimes visuals do more than words ever could, which is definitely true in the case of Victoria’s flawless set.

Kitty Scott-Claus calls out GAY TIMES for filming from an “unflattering” angle

@gaytimes if anything, stay for @baileyjayemills x #manchesterpride #camp #gay #funny #gaycomedy #gaycommunity #pride2022 #dragshow ♬ original sound – GAY TIMES

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to prove that everything about Kitty Scott-Claus is camp, but spending even a minute at one of her shows will do just that. The Drag Race UK finalist sang some of the most iconic gay anthems of all time, including Mamma Mia by ABBA and Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler. And what would an appearance from the beloved queen be without some comedy? “The other week I was down the Isle of Wight and Choriza May made a joke about the Tories and they didn’t find it funny,” she told the crowd. “It’s because they support them down there. We were literally like, ‘Posh c***s!’” Naturally, GAY TIMES made every effort to capture as much of the show on camera as possible, though Kitty was less than impressed with the angle we were trying to do it from – click here to see the moment unfold.