Sydney Mardi Gras 2021

Sydney Mardi Gras – The biggest gay party in the southern hemisphere!

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival is the world’s premier gay and lesbian cultural festival. Spanning two weeks the Festival aims to increase visibility of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities and culture.

The Festival officially launches at an enormous community picnic in the park, Fair Day. This kicks off two weeks with almost one hundred cultural, sporting and social events to appeal to every taste.

The Harbour Party

With the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge as its backdrop, Mardi Gras’ Harbour Party is the dance event with the view! Set in the tropical surrounds of the Royal Botanic Gardens, with two beautiful garden dance floors, Harbour Party is the perfect recovery after the Parade the night before.

Fair Day

The biggest and best-loved community event of the Season, Fair Day will officially launch this year’s Mardi Gras and promises a fun, relaxed day out for all the family, even the pets! Up to 70,000 routinely turn out to sit on the grass, browse the stalls, gorge themselves on the plethora of delicacies available at the stalls, have a few drinks, but most of all to catch up with old friends – and make some new ones.

Some of the Mardi Gras festival’s best talents will entertain the crowds from the main stage, along with some special guests. There will be plenty of colour away from the stages too. Look out for those who’ve come out to win the Mr and Mrs Fair Day competitions.

The Parade

There’s no city in the world that comes out to cheer on its gay pride event quite like Sydney. On Mardi Gras night hundreds of thousands line the streets of Sydney to watch the colour, spectacle and outrageousness of the Parade. It’s not simply a great gay event. It is one of the most exuberant street celebrations you will see anywhere in the world and draws in tens of thousands of tourists every year.

Changes to the 2021 Event

Take your seats for a spectacular celebration of pride, protest, passion and diversity. This is Mardi Gras like you’ve never seen it before, in one of Sydney’s most iconic venues.

It’s game on for the 43rd Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade – on Saturday 6 March 2021 we’re transforming the Sydney Cricket Ground into a stunning and sparkling showcase of LGBTQI+ culture and community.

Feel the energy of the crowd and gaze in wonderment at what we can create together. Join the stadium audience of 23,000 families, friends and allies, where you’ll witness a colourful cavalcade starring 5,000 paraders from over 100 LGBTQI+ community groups. The 2021 Parade will take inspiration from its past and move away from large floats, focusing instead on the outlandish pageantry of vibrant costumes, puppetry and props that made it such a phenomenon in its earliest years.

2021’s Mardi Gras Festival theme is ‘RISE’, letting spirits soar after the challenge and hardship that 2020 presented.

Here are the hotels we recommend that have good reviews and keep you close to all the action

Meriton Suites,   Pullman Sydney,   Hotel Stellar,   Rydges Sydney