The annual festival, which is taking place this Bank Holiday Weekend, is one of the longest-running LGBTQ+ celebrations in the UK and will see more than 100,000 people gather over the coming days to celebrate Manchester’s LGBTQ+ community and its proud history in the City.
And to mark the start of this year’s celebrations, the Club held its annual pride-raising flag ceremony this morning outside the Etihad Stadium.
This is the first time the Club has raised the latest version of the progressive pride flag, and it will be present throughout tomorrow’s match against Crystal Palace, as well as the rest of the weekend.
At the flag raising ceremony, Danny Wilson, Managing Director of Manchester City Operations and Alex Williams from City in the Community were joined by several members of Canal St Blues, plus representatives from City Matters, The LGBT Foundation and The Proud Trust.
Speaking at the event, Dave Alvarado, Chairman of Canal Street Blues, City’s Official LGBTQ+ supporters’ club branch said:
“I am proud to be here today with so many members of Canal Street Blues for the annual flag-raising ceremony, and we are all looking forward to a fantastic weekend with tomorrow’s match and the Manchester Pride celebrations.”
“One of the great things about the Club is it continues to show the identity of Manchester. The city has a big LGBTQ+ identity, and it is fantastic that the Club gets involved and shines the spirit of Manchester and its people.”
The Club’s work with Canal Street Blues to celebrate Pride forms part of its long-standing efforts to champion inclusivity in football.
Earlier in the month, new recruit Kalvin Phillips met with Canal Street Blues to hear more about the group and supporters will be able to watch this meeting on the club’s channels later in the week.
Before then, supporters will be able to read pride-themed content in the matchday programme at Saturday’s match, as well as listen to music from LGBTQ+ artists pre-match and hear at half-time from Canal St Blues and City Matter’s LGBTQ+ Representative.
Supporters can also purchase CITY AND PROUD t-shirts and hoodies in the City Store ahead of the celebrations.
Earlier this week, a number of Manchester City staff also took part in the Manchester Pride Cup, organised by the Manchester FA as part of the celebrations across the City.
For further details on the Canal Street Blues Official Supporters Club visit: @CanalStBlues on Twitter.
