The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade is returning home to Oxford Street in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the first Mardi Gras march as part of the the Sydney WorldPride Festival.
Over 200 floats and 12,500 marchers will parade on Oxford Street for the first time since 2020 under the festival theme, “Gather, Dream, Amplify”.
“After two years delivering the world-class Parade through the Pandemic we couldn’t be more excited to see the community unite once more on Oxford Street,” said Sydney Mardi Gras CEO Albert Kruger.
“With over 200 floats representing every corner of our communities, it is the perfect celebration as the world descends on Sydney for the first WorldPride in the Southern Hemisphere and we commemorate the 45th anniversary of the first Sydney Mardi Gras.”
The Sydney WorldPride Festival will also see the city host the WorldPride Human Rights Conference at ICC Sydney on March 1-5.
The three-day program includes speakers such as Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the UN’s Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, transgender US senator Sarah McBride and former justice of the High Court of Australia Michael Kirby.
“A conference of this scale and scope, focused entirely on LGBTIQ+ issues, has never before been held in Asia Pacific and the stories that these speakers have to tell are extraordinary,” said Anna Brown, CEO of Equality Australia.
“This is our chance to draw global attention to the issues facing our communities, and a time for governments and other decision-makers to create a world where all people can live free from discrimination and harm.”
