The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival is the world’s premier gay and lesbian cultural festival.
The Festival spanned two weeks in 2010, from the 19th February – 6th March.
You can get a flavour of Mardi Gras by visiting our Video & Photos section.
The highlight was as always the world-famous Mardi Gras Parade as well as some of the most famous dance parties in the gay calendar, including our iconic closing event Mardi Gras Party and extaordinarly picturesque Harbour '10.
The Festival officially launched at our enormous community picnic in the park, Fair Day. This sunny day kicked off two weeks with almost one hundred cultural, sporting and social events to appeal to every taste.
Just check out our Event Calendar to see what was on offer. Also have a look at the programme for the Mardi Gras Film Festival presented by Queerscreen.
One of the highlights of this year's Festival was the installations created by artist Spencer Tunick on March 1st. Spencer's signature use of large numbers of naked participants to create sublime and meaningful works provided a great chance for locals and visitors alike to get involved.
We had major international names such as Whitney Houston, John Waters, Paul Burston and Sarah Waters as well as the best in local talent. There was no shortage of great stage productions from the moving and challenging Bent to fun and exuberance with Frisky & Mannish's School of Pop and our musical theatre gala Hats Off!.
An exciting new event in 2010 was Queer Thinking which saw a fascinating range of artists, thinkers and academics gather to cover a truly eclectic range of topics, focused on this year's theme Mardi Gras' History of the World.
This year we also really focused on exploiting Sydney's natural beauty and attractions to ensure that both locals and visitors alike got the chance to enjoy the city together. It was possible to party all the way through Mardi Gras. Highlights included the new Parade Carnival, the Pool Party, Mardi Gras Dinner at Taronga Zoo, Mardi Gras Fag Tags Manly, the Drag Races at Bondi, the Lifesavers with Pride Beach BBQ at Tamarama and of course the official Mardi Gras Party After Party at Toybox Luna Park.
Our official Festival Bar was open every night through the Festival providing the perfect location for locals and visitors to meet someone new or bump into old friends.
Check out last year's season and get ready for 2011!
