Victory on marriage equality and parade’s 40th anniversary combine to swell the ranks of the thousands of regular attendees

Last year, the theme was about protesting for marriage equality. This year, Griff – who spent the afternoon in Surry Hills making a giant silver shoe – heard somebody was going to get married at Taylor Square. A lot can happen in a year.

But this is just one reason why, for the thousands of people gathering today at the foot of Oxford Street for the 2018 Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, this year will be special.

It is of course also the 40th anniversary of the inaugural march: a night of protest by more than a thousand people along Oxford Street’s bars and clubs that ended with its leaders arrested and brutalised by police.

Timeline How to get the best out of Mardi Gras Show Hide How to get the best out of Mardi Gras 3pm Parade participants start gathering in marshalling area near Hyde Park

7pm Parade starts at Hyde Park, just near Museum Station, before travelling down Oxford Street to Taylor Square. From there, the parade veers right into Flinders Street, heading down to Moore Park. View the full route map

10pm The Party starts at Fox Studios, Moore Park. There are eight different spaces inside the venue, with music pumping until past dawn

11pm Parade finishes in Moore Park

Midnight (Sunday 4 March) Mardi Gras Community show begins in the Royal Hall of Industries

12:30am–2:30am Cher performs in the Royal Hall of Industries. The exact time of her performance is TBA. The RHI gets very crowded very quickly, so get in early if you’re really keen.

8am Party finishes Tips

Many of the floats have theatrical elements: Taylor Square is the place to see these in full flight. But it can get crowded very quickly, so make sure you turn up early to get your spot. If you’ve got family or small children accompanying you, the Flinders Street/Moore Park section of the route is most likely to suit.Roads will be closed and parking scarce. Take public transport. 2018 is the first year the festival has put a cap on marchers, as it has been the most popular march yet. Expect big crowds.For those with access requirements, there are a number of recommended viewing points but getting in there requires registration. See the Mardi Gras website for details.





This time around, the Mardi Gras is expected to be one of the biggest yet. For the first time, organisers have placed a limit on the number of floats – 200 floats and 12,000 people – from the 300 applications. They’re also expecting a record half a million attendees.

The 78ers – those original marchers – will have the biggest float, 250-strong. For many, the confluence of this historic anniversary and last year’s landmark marriage equality win has made this a particularly special year.



It’s always a celebration, but on top of that, you’re celebrating same-sex marriage. It’s exponential celebration Mick, float organiser

Griff, with fellow organiser Mick and float leader Teresa, have spent the day on a side-street in Surry Hills attaching wings to a big shoe for their Evolution Dancers and Divas float.

Their float is a musical tribute to the four decades of queer music since the ‘78 march. “We’re tipping our hat to all the venues that have closed, to remind ourselves of what Oxford street culture used to be like,” Teresa said.

They have been told that they have the original movie shoe from Priscilla: Queen of the Desert. They’ll be attaching three-metre wings and will have 80 dancers behind it dressed as Madonna and George Michael dancing to Tina Turner, Ce Ce Peniston and Kylie Minogue.

All three think this year’s event will have added significance.

“It’s going to mean a lot more to people,” said Griff. “This event is never going to happen again, when it’s the 40th anniversary as well as the first Mardi Gras where people can actually get married.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Members of staff from the Sydney Opera House participate in a dress rehearsal on Friday ahead of the big day. Photograph: Steven Saphore/Reuters

Mick added: “It’s always a celebration, but on top of that, you’re celebrating same sex marriage. It’s exponential celebration.”

As part of the festivities, Sydney’s lockout laws have been lifted for tonight, and Cher is headlining the afterparty.

Speaking on Saturday morning to the ABC, director Greg Clarke even hinted that she would make a surprise appearance at the march. He also had to face questions about the increasingly corporate nature of the event, which some participants blamed for this year’s cap on floats.

“I don’t think it is [fair criticism],” he said. “There are 200 floats and probably nine corporate floats.”

In the lead-up, local independent MP Alex Greenwich and others, have kept up the pressure in targeting the next steps in Australian LGBTI rights. “There is more work to be done,” he wrote on Wednesday. “Transgender Australians were disgracefully targeted by the no side in the postal survey and deserve our community advocacy.”

Teresa said the memory of that “brutal” postal survey would bring out members of the queer community who otherwise think Mardi Gras isn’t for them.

“It’s 40 years on, and everyone fought so hard I think the community will come out, even if its not their thing, just to finally have something to celebrate. Like the cherry on top.”