Cliff Notes – Major UK festival owes £1,300,000 to stars including Nelly Furtado after collapse
- Manchester Pride has entered voluntary liquidation, owing £1.3 million to various creditors, including £145,755 to Nelly Furtado’s music label.
- The financial difficulties stem from rising costs, declining ticket sales, and an unsuccessful Euro Pride 2028 bid, leading to the redundancy of eight staff members.
- Hundreds of artists and suppliers remain unpaid for services rendered during this year’s event, prompting frustration among performers.
Major UK festival owes £1,300,000 to stars including Nelly Furtado after collapse
Manchester Pride owes over a million pounds after liquidation (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
Manchester Pride owes £1.3million to various stars and businesses, including headliner Nelly Furtado, after going into voluntary liquidation.
The event, one of the largest LGBTQ+ gatherings annually, started legal proceedings for voluntary liquidation on October 22, with the full circumstances of its dire financial circumstances now coming to light.
In a statement announcing the liquidation, it shared that a combination of ‘rising costs, declining ticket sales, an ‘ambitous refresh of the format’ and an unsuccessful Euro Pride 2028 bid led to the organisation being ‘financially unviable’.
Alongside eight members of staff being made redundant, it has been revealed in new documents that hundreds of artists and suppliers are yet to be paid for services.
A Statement of Affairs and Directors Report from KR8 Advisory, the company overseeing the liquidation, outlines that over £1m is still owed to creditors from management companions to venues, performers and beyond.
With only £269,291 in the bank, it is understood they owe an exact total of £1,306.683 with £145,755.75 required in payment to Nelstar Touring Inc, the indie music label for 2025 headliner Nelly Furtado.
Headliners at this year’s festival also included Olly Alexander (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
In the documents seen by Manchester Evening News, they also detailed Practical Event Solutions, which looks after security for events, is owed more than £167k, and St John Ambulance is owed £47.3k.
Other headliners this year included Olly Alexander and Leigh-Anne.
In its statement, Manchester Pride added: ‘We had hoped to be able to find a way to continue, and, most importantly, to support our artists, contractors and partners.
‘Despite our best efforts, sadly, this has not proved to be possible. We are sincerely sorry for those who will now lose out financially from the current situation.’
The organisation started legal proceedings for voluntary liquidation on October 22 (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
Earlier this month, several artists had come forward to share that they had not yet been paid for their work at this year’s event, which took place from August 22 to 25, and had to sign a 60-day payment terms.
‘It’s just really frustrating as an artist to have put the work in and then be treated this way by what is one of the biggest Prides in the UK. It’s just really disrespectful,’ Drag queen Zariah Zapanta told MEN at the time.
It is understood organisers approached Manchester Council after this year’s event for help with existing debts but but could not find a solution, according to MEN.
00s icon Nelly recently announced she is stepping back from live music (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
Just earlier this week, Nelly announced she had decided to quit live performances.
The Canadian musician, who rose to prominence in the 00s, saw a resurgence in popularity in recent years, as she acknowledged in a recent Instagram post.
‘To have so many people rediscovering my music has been surreal and joyful. It’s been so fun embracing this opportunity, getting out on stages again and seeing up close, the true lasting power of good music. It’s made me really believe in magic.
‘All this aside, I have decided to step away from performance for the foreseeable future and pursue some other creative and personal endeavours that I feel would better suit this next phase of my life,’ she wrote in her statement.
Metro has reached out to Manchester Pride and Nelly Furtado for comment.
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