Among the 200 floats, 12,000 marchers, 300,000 spectators and countless kilometres of glitter and sequins expected at Saturday night's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, will be sponsorship dollars from some of the country's biggest companies.

Companies such as Holden, Woolworths, Qantas and Myer, as well as television show Neighbours, have joined principal sponsor ANZ bank as major supporters of the Oxford Street parade.

ANZ has dressed up some of its ATMs around Oxford Street for Mardi Gras, calling them GAYTMs. Credit:Sasha Woolley

And, along the parade route, will be pop-up stores, including Jaguar's Jag Queen Service Centre at Taylor Square, which will offer free lippy and touch-ups by make-up giant Sephora.

It's a far cry from 25 years ago, when Cadbury's withdrew sponsorship from Channel Nine's Hey Hey It's Saturday because of announcements about its live crosses to the 1994 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. Or the outcry, in the same year, when lipstick company Poppy, as the festival's major cash sponsor, was lambasted because company founder Poppy King was straight.