Ariana Grande confirms she will headline Manchester Pride

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Ariana Grande has confirmed she will headline Manchester Pride.

The 'god is a woman' hitmaker will be returning to the city in north-west England for the first time since her One Love Manchester concert in June 2017, which she curated in honour of the victims of the Manchester bombing, which took place at the end of her concert in May 2017 at Manchester Arena.

Alongside a bee - which has become a symbol of Manchester's solidarity in the wake of the attack - emoji, she wrote on Twitter: "manchester babes, i'm so thrilled to be headlining pride. my heart. i cant wait to see u and i love u so so much"

And the 25-year-old singer has promised her Manchester fans that she is "still working" on something "special" for the city's residents.

She shared on her Twitter account: "we are still working on something a little more special for you guys. it takes a while to put these things together but hopefully i can tell you when i see you at pride. i love u. hope that's alright. (sic)"

Annual LGBT pride festival, Manchester Pride, takes place on the weekend between Friday August 23 and Monday August 26. Ariana's performance will take place at a new 9,000-capacity outdoor venue on Sunday August 25.

A source had previously said: "Manchester holds a very special place in Ariana's heart and she's made it clear she wants to do whatever she can for the city. She was in talks to ­perform at Manchester Pride this year but ­unfortunately they just could not make it work due to various reasons down to space and security. But the council and Ariana were so eager to make it ­happen, they have picked up conversations for 2019 and it is now looking like she will headline the Sunday evening. It is going to be really ­special if it does work out, particularly given how much Ariana means to everyone in the city."