We’re back! The 2025 Festival returns 14 February – 2 March 2025
It’s time! We’re back world, the iconic Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival is set for 14 February to 2 March 2025.
Celebrating 47 years in 2025, get ready for 17 days of unforgettable moments, international performers, parties, theatre, community events and more. The Festival will wrap with the world famous Sydney Mardi Gras Parade on Saturday 1 March 2025.
As Australia’s largest LGBTQIA+ celebration, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras brings a burst of colour and creativity to the city each year. Running from 14 February to 2 March 2025, the blockbuster program this year includes more than 100 community events, dance parties, theatre and music, all taking place over 17 glorious summer days.
Mardi Gras Parade
When: 1 March 2025
In 2025, the Mardi Gras Parade returns to Oxford Street, Flinders Street and Anzac Parade, centred around the theme ‘Our Future’. As always, the parade will be led by the beloved Dykes on Bikes, First Nations and 78er floats.
The parade is the biggest event of the festival, featuring more than 12,000 marchers and over 200 floats captivating spectators with a spectacular display of colour, creativity and pride. There are free viewing areas all along Oxford Street, as well as premium viewing spaces and accessible viewing ticketed areas to view the spectacle from Hyde Park to Moore Park.
More exciting events
There are plenty of other events to enjoy across the city throughout the festival, including performing arts, comedy, films and talks. Key celebrations include:
First Nations First Light: A Festival Welcome
When: 14 February 2025
To commemorate the start of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 2025, head to the shores of Bondi Beach for a Welcome to Country, Smoking Ceremony and performances to welcome festival-goers onto the unceded and sacred Gadigal, Bidjigal and Birrabirragal Lands.
Fair Day
When: 16 February 2025
Everyone’s favourite festival kick-off returns to Victoria Park on Sunday 16 February. The rainbow extravaganza brings together every corner of the LGBTQIA+ community, plus dapper dogs, DJs, wild dancefloors and more than 200 food, retail and community stalls.
Ultra Violet
When: 22 February 2025
Get ready for the ultimate LGBTQIA+ women’s event as the grounds of the National Art School transform into a velvet-draped techno house party for Ultra Violet. Born in 2023 under the esteemed curation of Sydney legends Sveta Gilerman and Jess Hill, Ultra Violet is entering a new era in 2025 solidifying itself as a pillar of the Sydney Mardi Gras calendar.
Laugh Out Proud
When: 21 February 2025
Take your seats at the queer comedy event of the year. This renowned comedy gala will see award-winning comedians and community favourites take the stage in the heart of Sydney’s Inner West.
Sissy Ball
When: 28 February 2025
The biggest vogue ball in the Southern Hemisphere soars to new heights as vogue families from across the country battle it out under the regency of Sissy Ball’s new curator: Kianna Oricci.
Mardi Gras Party
When: 1 March 2025
Let loose at the biggest overnight LGBTQIA+ party in Australasia, featuring Honey Dijon, Romy (Live) and Hayla. The Mardi Gras Party has been the beating heart of the festival for over 40 years, bringing together more than 10,000 people on the biggest night of Sydney’s party calendar.
Laneway
When: 2 March 2025
The official Mardi Gras closing party sees Hill Street and its resident dance-pub The Beresford transform into an epic street party featuring the best house, disco and pop. This event was born from a few milk crates on Hill Street to become the ultimate way to wrap up your Sydney Mardi Gras celebrations.
Festival theme: Free to be
The 2025 Festival theme Free to be is a celebration of the strides toward true LGBTQIA+ equality while also acting as a global reminder that our fight is far from over, and that we are not truly free until we are all free to be.
“Free To Be is a manifesto of what our community has desired and fought for dozens of decades, and the reason why we will continue to be here, fighting, celebrating and being fiercely visible for the generations to come,” said Gil Beckwith, CEO of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. “Our theme is about making a statement to embrace and rejoice in our unique individuality as well as our collective identity. It is about the bravery to rise for each other in the darkest of times and protect the progress we’ve made, using it as a springboard toward the progress we deserve.”
Mardi Gras history
On a cold night in Darlinghurst, Sydney in 1978, a small group of protestors formed to contribute to the international Gay Celebrations, the resulting police violence and arrests created a defining night in not only Sydney’s GLBTQI community but Australia’s cultural heritage.
“You could hear them in Darlinghurst police station being beaten up and crying out from pain. The night had gone from nerve-wracking to exhilarating to traumatic all in the space of a few hours. The police attack made us more determined to run Mardi Gras the next year.”
Over the months that followed, more protests and arrests took place – and the actions of the authorities came to be seen as heavy handed. By April 1979 the Parliament of New South Wales repealed the NSW Summary Offences Act legislation that had allowed the arrests to be made. As such that first Mardi Gras march was a major civil rights milestone beyond the gay community. Up to 3,000 people marched in an incident-free parade in 1979.
In 1980 a key new element was introduced – the post-parade party. The face of the modern Mardi Gras we know today was taking shape.
The event began to enjoy extensive media coverage from the mid-80s onwards and the crowds continued to swell, from 200,000 in 1989 to over 500,000 in 1993. Large numbers of interstate and international travellers had started flying in for the event as well, generating an estimated $38 million for the NSW economy.
Throughout the late ‘90s and early part of this century, Mardi Gras continued to grow in tourist and spectator numbers along with an increase in the quality of the events and the scope of the festival. Its themes each year represent the issues of the day and encourage marginalised groups to join a larger family of supporters.
