The streets will come alive to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community during the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
With the theme of ‘Our Future,’ this year’s Mardi Gras festival is set to bring colour, music and atmosphere to Sydney and the Northern Beaches.
Running from 16 February to 3 March, the festival will feature a wide range of activities and exhibitions of music, art and culture. The Northern Beaches will celebrate pride with installations and events.
A Fusion Pride picnic to be held on 4 February at Ted Jackson Reserve in Dee Why will be jointly hosted with council for the first time. Council provided a grant of $5,000 to Rainbow Families in partnership with Fusion Pride Northern Beaches to help fund the event.
Mayor Sue Heins says: “We are proud to support the vibrant celebration of Mardi Gras, a time when our community comes together to embrace diversity, celebrate unity and foster an inclusive environment for all. The council supports events that promote love, acceptance and the rich cultural tapestry that defines our area.”
Council will also be hosting Daniel Mudie Cunningham: Proud Mary and Live at MAG&M: End of Summer RAYN at Manly Art Gallery & Museum.
The 46th Mardi Gras parade will feature more than 200 floats and over 12,000 marchers will fill Oxford Street, Flinders Street and Anzac Parade. The parade on 2 March will bring the theme of Our Future to life through dancing and marching.
Image credit: R. Rienmuller.
Northern Beaches Fusion Pride will participate in the parade for the first time. The yearly Mardi Gras picnic at Ted Jackson Reserve will be a free, family-friendly event with live music, crafts, LGBTQIA+ resources and goods for sale.
Fusion Pride is a local organisation established to ‘create connections, visibility and inclusion through social, educational and advocacy support for the LGBTQIA+ community on Sydney’s Northern Beaches’.
Group co-founder and events coordinator Charity King says this is a great opportunity for visibility.
“It’s such a great way to show our diverse community that there is a group for them,” says Charity. “There is unity. We know where each other is now.”
Co-founder and Mardi Gras float organiser Sean Moran adds there will be a beaches theme for the parade. “We’ve got a float of 60 people,” he says. “And we’re also doing it with GLAM+ as well.” GLAM+ is a youth, LGBTQIA+ group created by council on the Northern Beaches.
The float itself will feature colour and movement. “We’ve got big props, including really big, long fabric with flag poles that mimic waves,” he explains.
“The theme of the parade is Our Future, and that’s exactly what Fusion Pride was set up to be, a better future for LGBTQIA+people on the Northern Beaches. The parade, the festival itself in its entirety, it’s all about taking those positive steps in the right direction, making sure the visibility and inclusion is always there,” Sean adds.
For more information on Fusion Pride activities, visit fusionpride.org. To access information about the 2024 Mardi Gras festival, visit mardigras.org.au