It goes without saying that one of the hallmarks of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is the giant post-parade party thrown at the Hordern Pavilion - and while it might be hard to top last year's presentation by Cher, organisers are giving it a red hot go.
Performers on the big night include Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters, drag superstar Courtney Act, HANDSOME, and the incredible House of Slé, fresh from their voguing showcase at Sissy Ball.
It's a spectacularly diverse lineup, with good reason.
"As the LGBTIQ+ community continues to evolve into many wonderfully diverse groups of people, the time is right to create a much more diverse queer entertainment program across the entire Mardi Gras Party that represents and appeals to everyone,” Mardi Gras CEO Terese Casu said in a statement earlier this month.
As such, this year's event will be divided into three themed stages, facilitating its varied performance bill.
"With the continuing explosion of international and national queer performers and DJs it is time to feature these amazing artists throughout the Mardi Gras party," Casu said.
"With over 12,000 party-goers and any one space only holding up to 5,000 people it also makes perfect sense to have live performances in all three spaces.”
From a design point of view, Sydney Mardi Gras Creative Director Greg Clarke said his focus was on developing an immersive experience.
“For this year’s party we are going all-out on the party design, creating three totally different immersive worlds in which everyone can come together to dance, play and be fearless in, and all three spaces feature incredible artists,” he said.
Other performers at the event include PNAU, Kim Petras, Paul Capsis, DJ Boris and Late Nite Tuff Guy.
You can watch OnDemand's Thinking Queer collection here, a collection of programs that explore all manner of social, political and cultural issues facing the LGBTIQ+ community.
A live stream of the parade will be available on SBS On Demand and the SBS Twitter account and Facebook page on Saturday 2 March. SBS Arabic 24 will report live from the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade to Arabic-speaking audiences around Australia.
