Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Participants in 2012
GenreLGBTQ pride parade and festival
BeginsSecond Thursday in February
EndsFirst Saturday in March
FrequencyAnnually
Location(s)Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Years active46
Inaugurated24 June 1978
Most recent2 March 2024
Participants16,500 (Parade 2019)[1]
13,626 (Party 2019)[1]
Attendance500,000 (Parade 2019)[1]
80,000 (Fair Day 2019)[1]
Websitewww.mardigras.org.au

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras or Sydney Mardi Gras is an event in Sydney, New South Wales attended by hundreds of thousands of people from around Australia and overseas. One of the largest LGBT festivals in the world, Mardi Gras is the largest Pride event in Oceania.[a] It includes a variety of events such as the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade and Party, Bondi Beach Drag Races, Harbour Party, the academic discussion panel Queer Thinking, Mardi Gras Film Festival, as well as Fair Day, which attracts 70,000 people to Victoria Park, Sydney.

The Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras is one of Australia's biggest tourist drawcards,[14] with the parade and dance party attracting many international and domestic tourists. It is New South Wales' second-largest annual event in terms of economic impact,[15] generating an annual income of about A$30 million for the state.

The event grew from gay rights parades held annually since 1978, when numerous participants had been arrested by New South Wales Police Force.[16] The Mardi Gras Parade maintains a political flavour, with many marching groups and floats promoting LGBTQIA+ rights issues or themes.[17] Reflecting changes since the first Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, participants in the Mardi Gras Parade now include groups of uniformed Australian Defence Force personnel, police officers from New South Wales Police Force, as well as interstate and federal police officers, firefighters and other emergency services personnel from the Australian LGBTQIA+ communities. Marriage equality was a dominant theme in the 2011 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade with at least 15 floats lobbying for same-sex marriage.[18]

In 2019 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras submitted a bid to host WorldPride 2023 competing against Montreal, Canada and Houston, Texas. InterPride chose Sydney, Australia to host WorldPride 2023 at their Athens October 2019 Annual General Meeting of three hundred delegate organizations, the first time WorldPride was held in the Southern Hemisphere or Asia Pacific region.[19][20][21]

  1. ^ a b c d "2019 Annual Report" (PDF). Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  2. ^ Allen, Karma; Katersky, Aaron (2 July 2019). "Millions more attended WorldPride than expected". ABC News. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  3. ^ Caspani, Maria; Lavietes, Matthew. "Millions celebrate LGBTQ pride in New York amid global fight for equality: organizers". Reuters. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  4. ^ O’Doherty, Cahir (4 July 2019). "Irish march at historic World Pride in New York City". IrishCentral.com. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  5. ^ Lynch, Scott. "Photos: Massive Turnout For Euphoric NYC Pride March: Gothamist". Gothamist. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  6. ^ Ripardo, SÉRGIO (28 May 2008). "Guinness exclui recorde da Parada Gay - 28/05/2008". Folha Online. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  7. ^ Lawler, Opheli Garcia (18 June 2017). "Brazil Holds World's Largest Pride Parade". The Fader. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  8. ^ Sheets, Cassie (1 June 2017). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Pride". Pride.com. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  9. ^ Petrov, Arkady (30 June 2019). "2019 LGBT Parade in São Paulo Raised R$403 Million for the City". The Rio Times. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d "Pride 2019: The world's 15 biggest LGBTQ celebrations, from New York to Tel Aviv". USA Today Travel. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  11. ^ Nomadic Boys (11 June 2019). "South America's best Pride parades". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  12. ^ Duffy, Nick (20 February 2019). "Glitter has been banned from Australia's biggest Pride celebration". PinkNews. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  13. ^ Mohamed, Amarra (6 June 2019). "Pride in Pictures: Johannesburg's Pride parade is the biggest in Africa & there's a reason why". www.lgbtqnation.com. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  14. ^ Sames, Christine (7 March 2004). "Statements and sequins on parade". The Sun-Herald. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
  15. ^ "Mardi Gras marchers push for gay marriage". Australia: ABC News. 6 March 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  16. ^ Peoples History of Australia (9 April 2020). "People's History of Australia Podcast. Episode 7 – The 1978 Sydney Mardi Gras". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  17. ^ Ross, Liz (3 April 2023). "Revolution Is For Us: Gay Liberation, Unions and the Left in the 1970s". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  18. ^ Samandar, Lema (5 March 2011). "Sydney Mardi Gras focuses on gay marriage". Ninemsn News. Archived from the original on 3 May 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  19. ^ Nguyen, Kevin; Collins, Antonette (21 October 2019). "'Sydney, we're coming for ya, baby': Australia wins WorldPride bid for 2023". ABC News. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  20. ^ "'The gay Olympics': Sydney wins bid to host 2023 WorldPride event". SBS News. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  21. ^ Peter Hackney (20 October 2019). "Sydney wins bid to host WorldPride 2023". Star Observer. Retrieved 23 October 2019.


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