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Sir Ian McKellen declared last year's parade to be "the best theatre in the UK on the streets of Manchester...better than San Francisco".

The ten day festival programme features sport, art and entertainment, film, campaigning and debating, and the final "Big Weekend."

The festival starts on Friday 20 August with the launch of the 4th Manchester Lesbian & Gay Film Festival at the Filmworks with screenings throughout the festival, followed by the popular family picnic in Sackville Park at the heart of the Gay Village on Saturday 21 August.

After its sell out residency at London's Drill Hall, the Queer Storytelling Tour will be making a stop at Manchester's green room on Saturday 21 August with creative writing workshops to refresh memories, explore fantasies, and learn the secret of creating spellbinding yarns.

Manchester's sports clubs will kick-off the sports activity with a "Sports Ball" in Manchester Town Hall during the first weekend, bringing together teams from across Manchester and sports visitors to the city.

Tours of the immensely popular "Out in the Past" lesbian and gay heritage trail, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, will also be taking place over the ten days of the festival, exploring Manchester's lost heritage and history.

The Manchester Pride Parade takes place on Saturday 28 August and winds its way through the streets of Manchester. With the aim of creating an even bigger and more colourful parade this year, individuals, groups and organisations are already planning their entries and will be attending free workshops funded by Arts & Business.

The Big Weekend kicks off at 10pm on Friday 27 August with musicians and street entertainment across the festival site. Manchester's famous Gay Village will become a ticketed 24-hour festival site containing a host of activity over the 62 hours including a main stage, cabaret stage, dance tent, Co-operative Lifestyle (for all your living needs), sports zone, market stalls, women's space and all culminating in the HIV Candlelit Vigil at 9pm on Monday 30 August.

Comedy, poetry, opera, music and karaoke appear on the cabaret stage - a more chilled out area in Sackville Park.

This is also the venue for the HIV Candlelit Vigil on Monday night to remember and celebrate the lives of friends and family affected by HIV. The Vigil is organised by George House Trust, the UK's oldest and second largest HIV organisation.