EXPLORE OUR FREE EVENTS
Feeling fun, flirty and free? Here’s your guide to the 2024 Festival events that are full of Mardi Gras magic and 100% free.
FESTIVAL FIRST LIGHT
Our future is first nations
As the sun peaks over the horizon on the first day of the 2024 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival, Rainbow Elders from Gadigal, Bidjigal and Birrabirragal Land will conduct five simultaneous Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremonies. Free to join, the Ceremonies will see the first light of our Festival hitting unceded Aboriginal Land.
From the shores of Bondi Beach to the tree-lined Victoria Park, our historic Taylor Square, the infamous Hordern Pavilion and Sydney Town Hall – we’re honoured to have Rainbow Elders, part of the longest continuous queer culture in the world, Welcome the world to one of the biggest celebrations of LGBTQIA+ pride on the planet.
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PROGRESS PRIDE FLAG RAISING
Fly the flag and let the Festival begin!
From 16 February until 3 March the progress pride flag will fly atop one of the city’s most iconic buildings – Sydney Town Hall. Everyone is invited to join us outside Sydney Town Hall as we raise the flag to officially mark the beginning of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 2024.
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MINUS18 QUEER FORMAL
The Minus18 Queer Formal is returning to Sydney in 2024! And what’s more, the most spectacular night of nights for LGBTQIA+ young people is taking center stage within the biggest LGBTQIA+ celebration in Australia: Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. “The Minus18 Queer Formal is returning to Sydney in 2024! And what’s more, the most spectacular night of nights for LGBTQIA+ young people is taking center stage within the biggest LGBTQIA+ celebration in Australia: Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
Queer Formal is a life-affirming night for LGBTQIA+ young people (aged 12 to 19 only) to make friends, connect to community, dance the night away and be their true selves.
Basically? Wear what you want, bring the date you want, express the way that YOU want, and celebrate with other beautiful queer folk.
FAIR DAY
Our future is a celebration
Our future is bright for Fair Day. Over 70,000 people will take over Victoria Park on Sunday 18 February for our rampant rainbow extravaganza! Join us from day-to-night as every corner of our communities come together to celebrate all things LGBTQIA+SB joy.
Dapper dogs, DJs and dancefloors join over 200 food, retail and community stalls – with six stages and six bars keeping you entertained and hydrated for our annual global gathering to kick-off the 2024 Festival.
With Fair Day 2024 unable to go ahead, we’ve pulled together the below directory of stallholders who were set to line the always-sunny Victoria Park.
Full Fair Day Directory
QUEER ART AFTER HOURS
Our future is a masterpiece
Celebrate LGBTQIA+ excellence as the Art Gallery of New South Wales evolves into the epicentre of queer culture and expression for Queer Art After Hours.
Established as a platform for LGBTQIA+ artists, performers and storytellers, Queer Art After Hours is a testament to the vibrancy of queer creativity in Sydney. On 28 February 2024, Queer Art After Hours will be held across the Art Gallery’s expanded campus, in both the North and South buildings. This year, the program is co-created with key community members to produce a kaleidoscope of experiences throughout the evening. Join us in celebrating the diversity, resilience, and creativity of the LGBTQIA+ community at this special event.
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QUEER CONTEMPORARY
The National Art School’s iconic site is a part of the queer past and the queer future, from the infamous Wall to the huge success of previous presentations of Queer Contemporary.
Following our impressive Sydney WorldPride programs in 2023, we are proud to announce that Queer Contemporary returns again to the National Art School with an exciting visual arts program in the Rayner Hoff Project Space.
Photo: Robert Knapman Photography
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MARKS PARK SUNRISE SERVICE OF REFLECTION
As we celebrate Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival, we come together at dawn at the Rise Memorial in Marks Park to commemorate the suffering of innocent people in our community and elsewhere.
To celebrate our progress towards a stronger society in a single generation. To commit to vigilance against bigotry and prejudice in all its forms. All are welcome to join and reflect with us. Bring respect, hope and love.
Installed in 2021, Rise Memorial dedicated to all the victims and survivors targeted during a spate of homophobic and transphobic violence from the 1970s to the 1990s in Sydney and NSW.
Please note: due to the uneven terrain of some parts of Marks Park, this area may not be accessible to all patrons.
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