The confetti and glitter are settling on another Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras after tens of thousands partied through the LGBTIQ+ community's night of nights.
More than 11,000 people marched, danced and rolled their way through Sydney streets for the 47th Mardi Gras Parade, displaying Australia's rich and diverse queer culture.
Groups representing rainbow families, transgender people, LGBTIQ+ people with disability, and those with a deep love for deafening motorcycles were among more than 180 distinct communities and corporations adding to the colour of Saturday night.
By tradition, Dykes on Bikes delivered a deafening first blast to the night's soundtrack.
They were followed by several floats representing First Nations communities and the 78ers — the trailblazing gay and lesbian activists whose bold protest in 1978 sowed the seeds for Australia's largest LGBTIQ+ celebration.
A vast array of performers marched to the beat of their own drum, personifying this year's theme of 'Free to Be'.
Historians from South Australia, queer Queensland doctors and migrant communities representing Turkey, Japan, and other nations highlighted just some of the participants' diversity, covering the entire LGBTIQ+ spectrum.
"Everyone has come together to appreciate the community and show love and respect," onlooker Christina Saroukos told AAP from parade centre point Taylor Square.
"All the detailed costumes, the dancers and their choreography — they've really put the effort in and it shows," her sister Olivia said.
Underscoring the parade's political undercurrent, hundreds in the parade adopted a second unofficial theme, holding signs demanding transgender kids be protected.
Political leaders including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, and federal independents Allegra Spender, Zali Steggall and Senator Lidia Thorpe, were among those to march along the 1.3km route through Darlinghurst.
Equality Australia said Mardi Gras was a celebration of how far the community had come while sadly marking an uptick in verbal abuse, threats of violence and assaults.
"It's a reminder that for many people in our communities, particularly trans people, such targeted acts of hate are a year-round occurrence and that despite our gains we are still fighting for equal rights and protections in the law," chief executive Anna Brown said.
The police marched again in this year's parade after a bid to ban their presence was narrowly voted down in December last year.
More than 10,000 people were expected to party until dawn at the marquee eight-hour Mardi Gras Party rave at Moore Park.
An official closing party, dubbed Laneway, will close out the wider 16-day Mardi Gras festival on Sunday.
