Andy Burnham has insisted a lockdown party in Moss Side where two men were fatally shot was not an illegal rave.
The Greater Manchester Mayor said it would be 'unfair on the community' to describe the incident as a rave, despite local residents telling the MEN that it was attended by up to 200 people and had a DJ, PA system and gazebos.
His comments came after Greater Manchester Police also insisted that the shooting happened at 'an unplanned, spontaneous gathering' and not a rave.
Two men - one in his 20s and one in his 30s -both died in hospital after shots were fired at a gathering on in Moss Side on Saturday night.
A double murder investigation is now underway.
Nearby residents have told the MEN that 'hundreds' of people turned up and were partying on a car park off Caythorpe Street.
Neighbours said surrounding roads were grid locked due to the number of cars dropping people off and Snapchat video footage from the party shows people huddled together in the darkness dancing to loud music.
But Andy Burnham today told BBC Radio 4 that the gathering was 'not a rave'.
Speaking to Sarah Montague on the World at One programme, he said: "The first thing to say is that it wasn't a rave.
"There had a been a gathering in the community before which was sanctioned by the city council so I think it's important not to talk about this as though it was an illegal rave.
"Although it was a very serious situation, and Greater Manchester Police are investigating, if we look around the rest of the region the police actually stopped a number of illegal raves at the weekend because of some of the intelligence gathering we put in place."
One local said the street was 'rammed with people' and that 'tents, gazebos, and a big sound system' had been set up.
"It’s been reported as a street party, but it was a big organised event", they added.
"Moss Side is an easy target and the organisers knew that. They decided to have it here because with everything else going on they knew it wouldn’t get dispersed as quickly as it should have."
The area was left strewn with discarded drinks bottles and laughing gas canisters the following day.
Earlier on Saturday a family friendly Black Lives Matter event took place on parkland on Rosebery Street.
The mayor has joined police, residents and local community leaders in stressing that this event was not connected to the later gathering nearby.
This is where the men are believed to have been attacked after they 'self-presented' at hospital with gunshot wounds.
When asked whether the gathering was illegal, Mr Burnham told BBC Radio 4: "No, the gathering earlier in the day was sanctioned.
"It went on into the night and that was were the problem came in.
"It's unfair on the community for it to be described as it has been."
The mayor went on to say that the Moss Side incident was 'a different situation' to the raves which were seen last weekend at Daisy Nook country park and on an industrial estate in Carrington.
He said these raves were 'very difficult to police' because of the link to 'serious criminality'.
"What we're trying to do is stop these raves happening in the first place", Mr Burnham added.
"And we put together a plan last week which depended on more intelligence gathering and more effort to disrupt people from arriving on site.
"That plan worked at the weekend because we prevented a number of illegal raves happening across Greater Manchester.
"These are really difficult judgements for a police officer to make because to go in with a heavy-handed approach to disrupt any kind of gathering carries risks.
"It carries safety risks not just to the officers but to members of the public. They have to make these judgements in very difficult situations.
"The Moss Side incident was not a rave. Greater Manchester Police are very clear about that. It was a very serious situation though and a very serious crime now being investigated."
In the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, passed to counter such events, a rave is defined as "a gathering on land in the open air of 20 or more persons at which amplified music is played during the night (with or without intermissions) and is such as, by reason of its loudness and duration and the time at which it is played, is likely to cause serious distress to the inhabitants of the locality."
Several residents in the area, on the border with Whalley Range, which is overlooked by flats, have said they repeatedly alerted police to the subsequent late night gathering and asked them to break it up.
GMP say they were aware of it and that they responded to every complaint about it.
They say officers did attend but that at time they 'did not identify any specific criminal activity' so continued to monitor it.
In a statement released on Sunday night, the force said: "We would like to reassure the community that no raves took place in Moss Side last night (Saturday).
"There was a community event which was proactively policed in conjunction with partner agencies and concluded without incident.
"Later in the evening there was an unplanned, spontaneous gathering which took place near to the location of the earlier community event. This is where the incident is believed to have occured.
"We did receive some reports from the public and responded to each individual complaint.
"On attendance we spoke with people at the location and made an assessment of the situation.
"We did not identify any specific criminal activity and continued to monitor the gathering alongside other partner agencies.
"We would like to make it clear this gathering is not considered to be a rave."
At a press conference at the scene on Sunday Superintendent Mark Dexter said it was decided it would be "unachievable to safely disperse the event due to the nature of the event, the people that were present and the numbers."
