The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival is the world’s premier gay and lesbian cultural festival. Spanning two weeks in 2010, from the 19th February – 6th March, the Festival aims to increase visibility of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities and their culture.
You can get a flavour of Mardi Gras by visiting our Video & Photos section.
It has as its highlight the world-famous Mardi Gras Parade and includes some of the most famous dance parties in the gay calendar, including our iconic closing event Mardi Gras Party and extaordinarly picturesque Harbour '10.
The Festival officially launches at our enormous community picnic in the park, Fair Day. This kicks off two weeks with almost one hundred cultural, sporting and social events to appeal to every taste. Just check out our Event Calendar to see all that's available. Also have a look at the programme for the Mardi Gras Film Festival presented by Queerscreen.
One of the highlights of this year's Festival will surely be the installations to be created by artist Spencer Tunick on March 1st. Spencer's signature use of large numbers of naked participants to create sublime and meaningful works is a great chance for locals and visitors alike to get involved.
We have major international names such as Whitney Houston, John Waters, Paul Burston and Sarah Waters as well as the best in local talent. There is no shortage of great stage productions from the moving and challenging Bent to fun and exuberance with Frisky & Mannish's School of Pop and our musical theatre gala Hats Off!.
An exciting new event in 2010 is Queer Thinking which will see a fascinating range of artists, thinkers and academics gather to cover a truly eclectic range of topics, focused on this year's theme Mardi Gras' History of the World.
This year we have also really focused on exploiting Sydney's natural beauty and attractions to ensure that both locals and visitors alike get the chance to enjoy the city together. It is possible to party all the way through Mardi Gras. Highlights include the new Parade Carnival, the Pool Party, Mardi Gras Dinner at Taronga Zoo, Mardi Gras Fag Tags Manly, the Drag Races at Bondi, the Lifesavers with Pride Beach BBQ at Tamarama and of course the official Mardi Gras Party After Party at Toybox Luna Park.
Our official Festival Bar will be open every night through the Festival providing the perfect location to meet some locals, catch some of our visitors and bump into old friends. It is programmed with a wide variety of cabaret, music and comedy.
Happy Mardi Gras!
