Ariana Grande will headline Manchester
Pride festival in August.
“I'm so thrilled to be headlining
pride. My heart. I can't wait to see u and I love u so so much,”
Grande said in a tweet.
Manchester Pride CEO Mark Fletcher said
in a statement released Monday that his organization was “truly
honored to be welcoming Ariana back to the city to help us celebrate
LGBT+ life.”
In 2017, 22 people died and dozens were
injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at Manchester Arena
following a Grande concert. Grande returned two weeks later to host
a benefit concert in the city.
(Related: At
least 22 die in bombing at Ariana Grande concert in UK.)
Also scheduled to perform this year are
Years and Years, Bananarama, Becky Hill, Kim Petras, Liverty X, Pixie
Lott, and Louisa.
The annual festival takes place August
23-26.