These Australian events offer an opportunity to celebrate the country's culture and history, as well as spend time with friends and family even if you come from a different background.
This is Australia!
The Carnival celebration in Sydney, for instance, is much longer than normal Carnivals and very different. In this event, Australians celebrate LGBTQ+culture, which is why it has been labeled as Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Celebration and it is characterized by disco nights, exhibitions, parades and a festival attended by drag queens mostly.
You can wear anything for Mardi Gras but as a participant it is recommended to opt for a drag outfit and compete with the reigning drag queens. You will most likely find people wearing low-cut dresses, body-painting and colorful feather boas.
Flashy costumes are a must and many people attend it either to support the cause or just for the fun of it.
The parade is indeed an explosion of joy, colors and celebration that spreads through the streets of the country's main cities, in particular Sydney. Inspired by the traditional New Orleans event, Australian Mardi Gras is a tribute to diversity and inclusiveness. Sydney is particularly renowned for hosting this Pride Parade, which is one of the largest and most renowned in the world and in this parade, thousands of people gather to see creative floats and performances.
The celebration is not limited to the parade, but also extends to parties, concerts and cultural events that celebrate love and diversity. The electrifying atmosphere during Mardi Gras in Australia reflects the open-mindedness and tolerance of society, among the most advanced in the world.
The Sydney Mardi Gras parade is merely the culmination of a three-week festival that attracts more and more spectators every year. The almost 2km long parade typically starts from Oxford Street, before moving onto Flinders Street with colorful floats and performers that strives to convey a strong political message every year.
Sydney Mardi Gras grew out of a gay rights parade that took place in Sydney on June 24th 1978.
On that day, members of the local LGBTQ+ community gathered on Oxford Street to march for the recognition of equal rights, to fight discrimination in employment and housing and to ask for the revocation of anti-gay laws therefore putting an end to abuses by law enforcement. The event attracted thousands of participants, but was interrupted by police intervention and many demonstrators were arrested. In 1981, the event was moved to February and given the official title of Sydney Mardi Gras.
Both attendance and spectators increased considerably and this set the stage for the many Sydney Mardi Gras parades that followed. Each year a theme is chosen and those taking part in the parade are asked to dress accordingly.
Obviously, since it's during the summer here, the Parade attendees do not wear many pieces of clothing to be honest, but it’s quite funky and fun I must admit.
Sydney is the most ‘well-blended’ International city I have ever been to I think and inclusion here means a lot whether it involves sexual orientation, religion, race or ethical values.
Also the Chinese New Year is celebrated with the Twilight Parade, a parade of colorful floats, animated dragons, costumes and dances moving from Sydney Town Hall to Chinatown.
The party normally culminates with a barrage of fireworks fired over the magnificent Opera House but more on that in my next blog!
