Australia’s Mardi Gras

The Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras is one of Australia’s biggest tourist drawcards, 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, generating an annual income of about A$30 million for the state.

Almost 200 floats will make their way along the iconic Oxford Street and beyond, in front of an estimated crowd of 300,000 people. Participants will be coming from around Australia and across the world.

The event grew from gay rights parades held annually since 1978 and has been a major help in passing same-sex marriage legislation in Australia on 9 December 2017.

Drag Queens, Dykes on Bikes, Sydney Lifesavers, community heroes and much more, came together to produce what has become the parade that shows that Sydney can indeed be a city that lends itself to promoting culture.

Growing up in Amsterdam, which is renowned for its open-mindedness, this passing same-sex marriage legislation in Australia late 2017 really surprised me at the time. Naturally it never even occurred to me that this was still an “illegal” thing.

With globalisation seeping into our daily lives and Australia’s Mardi Gras happening annually, it’s only a good thing that Australia is catching up.