Find some useful answers to Sparkle Weekend FAQs below:

Sparkle Weekend FAQs

 

When is the Sparkle Weekend 2025?

The Sparkle Weekend 2025 will take place from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th June in Sackville Gardens, Manchester. See here for a full breakdown of the Sparkle Weekend, including key timings.

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What are the roots of the Sparkle Weekend?

The Sparkle Weekend was born as a pageant in 2005, mostly attracting trans women and those with mixed presentation. This 1-day event attracted around 80 people in the Thompson Arms within Manchester’s Gay Village. The following year, the celebration moved to Sackville Gardens. By 2008, the Sparkle Weekend was attracting 600 people, through developing partnerships with brands and organisations. In 2015, the organisation developed a business plan for growth, and attendance rose to around 3,000 people. During this time, the Sparkle Weekend became visibly more inclusive to trans men and non-binary people.

 

Visitor numbers peaked in 2019 to over 20,000 over the weekend! 

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During the Covid-19 Pandemic, we significantly struggled as an events-based charity. The online Sparkle event in 2020 saw 3,200 viewers. The first in-person Sparkle Weekend since the Pandemic saw a soft relaunch, attracting over 7,000 attendees. Since then, numbers have gradually risen, seeing over 12,500 visitors at the Sparkle Weekend 2024.

 

Can children attend?

Children and families are encouraged to attend on Saturday and Sunday! We have a dedicated Family & Youth Zone with support services, activities, and children's entertainment. The Main Stage on Saturday and Sunday will be family-friendly. 

 

For safety reasons, all children must be supervised by an adult at all times while on the festival site. This ensures that they are protected from any potential hazards and can enjoy the event in a safe environment. We ask that parents and guardians take responsibility for keeping their children close and closely monitoring their activities throughout the event.

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Can I bring my dog?

Dogs are more than welcome - you can even enter them into our first Diamond Dog Show! 

Please be aware there are assistance dogs working on site and as such, pets must remain on leads at all times. Poo bags, water and shade is available on site.

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Is the Sparkle Weekend a pride?

Although the Sparkle Weekend is very similar to pride events, we are proudly a celebration rather than a pride, which is rooted in protest. We have important pride elements at the Sparkle Weekend, particularly the Trans Joy March. The Sparkle Weekend is the only celebration of its kind in the UK. 2025 marks 20 years of proudly celebrating gender diversity. 

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When will the Main Stage line-up be announced?

We're working hard behind the scenes to bring you another fantastic line-up for 2025! Our team are taking the necessary time to ensure we can deliver another year of incredible gender diverse talent for you to enjoy. Keep an eye on our social media channels and don’t forget to click the bell icon to enable notifications. This way, you'll be the first to hear about our exciting line-ups as soon as they are announced!

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Where should I stay?

There are many different accommodation options within walking distance of Sackville Gardens. You can find different options on search engines and hotel comparison sites, using the post code M1 3HB.

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Is the Sparkle Weekend accessible?

One of our charity’s core values is that the Sparkle Weekend remains free to attend in order to be accessible to everyone, regardless of gender identity, race, religion, or physical ability. We have different accessibility provisions to ensure everyone can join our celebration, including:​

• BSL interpreter on the Main Stage

• Ear plugs available on request

• Accessible toilets including baby change facilities

• Step-free site

• Plenty of seating including Accessible Seating

• Sensory Morning on Saturday and Sunday

• Assistance dogs welcome 

• Hand sanitiser and masks available

• Sober spaces on site 

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Can I bring my own Food and Drink?

We have a wide range of competitively priced food available on site however we understand people may have certain dietary requirements and may need to bring in their own supplies into the event. As a grassroots charity led event with such high numbers attending our health and safety plans must be robust, as a closed event site we are responsible for the health, welfare and conduct of our visitors as such we have been advised by licensing to only allow unopened and sealed soft drink in CANS ONLY onto the site throughout the weekend. We will be providing FREE water available onsite and a large range of alcoholic and soft drinks available to buy onsite for our visitors too. 

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Do you complete bag checks on the way onto site?

Yes we do, our security team are trained diligently and appropriately in both Gender Diversity and Compliance. They want to uphold everyones right to dignity whilst also helping us to keep the site as safe as possible for all of us including our children and young people. We know some of our visitors and indeed our volunteer team have accessibility or continence needs and would prefer to have a more discrete bag check, please let one of our security team know if this the case and this can be arranged.​

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Can I Photograph people whilst on site or Record them for my blog or YouTube channel?

Whilst the site is a ticketed event, we reserve the right to ask anyone with professional camera or videography equipment who has not already applied through our Media Pass Scheme prior to the event to leave the Sparkle Pass.
 

Is the event funded by Manchester City Council?

No, unfortunately Manchester City Council do not provide any Grant Funding or Donations to the Sparkle Weekend. We are however held in a public open space owned by Manchester City Council, and we work with them to safely delivery the Sparkle Weekend alongside their 'Parks Strategy'.
 

Do you recieve any Government Funding?

We also do not get and funding from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, despite the significance of the Sparkle Weekend in the National and International LGBTQ+ Calendar. We are also each year improving the local community by an estimated £1.75m in economic growth over the Sparkle Weekend.

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How do I make a complaint?

If you wish to complain or give us feedback, please email info@sparkle.org.uk.

We will only accept complaints regarding the Sparkle Weekend for 28 days following the event (27th July 2025).

We endeavour to respond to complaints within 28 days of being received. 

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