A Colourful Queer Parade~

A bunch of us inquisitive non-locals hopped off the bus at moore park and made our way down to flinders street by foot for some live gay+lesbian footage last weekend. We had several Mardi Gras 'virgins' with us; I doubt they had any idea what to expect. My jaw still drops occasionally despite how I've been to the parade a couple of times now. I guess it really isn't a parade for the up-tight and faint hearted. I hear Sydney hosts the largest gay+lesbian pride parades in the world....we wanted a taste of it while we could!

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is a four-week long festival for the gay and lesbian community held in Sydney during February/March. The festival eventuated from a protest march on June 24th, 1978 in commemoration of the riots in Stonewell, New York City. The event was held again the following year, where it was named the "Sydney Gay Mardi Gras." It was in 1980 the post-parade dance party was established and in 1988 the parade was renamed the "Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras." The parade features proud members of the gay community adorned with flamboyant costumes, dance music and art. The 2006 Mardi Gras featured 120 floats and 6,000 marchers and was watched by over 300,000 people reflecting an ever-growing tolerance and acceptance of the gay and lesbian community in Sydney. (sydneyexporer.com.au)

As our backdrop of the city skyline began to fall dim, we hastened our footsteps towards the parade. Fireworks sparked from afar, signalling the parade forward~ We clambered between tall stools of people; sweaty armpits and lots of elbowing to grab ourselves a decent spot at the end of the parade. It was Exhausting...I was pretty grossed out 15 mins later...but thank god~ the view we nabbed made it worth our while! I've probably never taken photographs in these conditions! so do excuse the quality of these shots! *grin* I tried...i tried very hard.










I would love to give everyone a written commentary on all the floats that night..but from lack of energy(I'm currently sick) and short term memory loss; I'll have to pass. *heee*

I'll post up pictures though~ It's probably more interesting than reading what I have to say.

My favourite float?
oh....the IKEA kitchen of course~ with naked men wrapped in tiny aprons *giggle*...the Surf life savers were yummy too~ OH! and the float with cupcakes on them! Su loves cupcakes *hehe*

I hope to feel better soon....the sick bug is taking away my enthusiasm in the kitchen! *sniff*