We’re Truly Ecstatica To Report 2026 Sydney Mardi Gras Parade Dazzled The Country

Tonight, the 2026 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade is roaring, marching and shimmering with queer joy.

While exact numbers are yet to be revealed, up to 300,000 people were expected to pack the parade route from Hyde Park down to Moore Park, while countless more watched the ABC’s live broadcast across the country.

Approximately 9,000 marchers and 160 floats have taken part this year, representing community groups, grassroots activists, sporting clubs, First Nations organisations, unions, small businesses and sponsors.

A Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony opened the parade, then Dykes on Bikes led the charge as always, revving into the night to deafening cheers.

We also saw the First Nations floats Blak Joy and Yamurrah at the beginning of the parade.

Community Dance performed the electric choreography they were meant to perform at this year’s post-Parade Party, which was tragically cancelled at the last minute.

There was an incredible turnout for the First Mardi Gras float this year too, with the 78ers this year acknowledging 1976, when the first attempt was made in NSW to pass anti-discrimination legislation that included the word homosexual in it. The group held up banners reading “Stop Police Attacks on Gays, Women and Blacks’ and ‘Out of the Bars, Into The Street’, acknowledging messages that were used at the first Mardi Gras in 1978.

Before the big event even kicked off, there was an outpouring of queer joy, as two revellers tied the knot in Hyde Park. Jessica Luna and Carolina Andrade held an impromptu wedding, with the newlyweds telling the ABC that holding a wedding at Mardi Gras was completely last-minute.

“We’re still going to do a proper ceremony,” said Luna. “But the date just kind of aligns, and you’re like, what would be, like, better than just celebrate our love in this beautiful event, you know?”

We also saw Night of 1000 Magdas, honouring community icon Magda Szubanski, who recently announced her cancer is officially in remission.

Mardi Gras Parade 2026 – a momentous year

Just days ago, it was announced that the Oxford Street parade route had been added to the National Heritage Register — a powerful recognition of the site of the original 1978 protest and the generations who have marched, fought and celebrated there since.

There has also been also many mentions of  and emotional tributes to drag icon Maxi Shield, who passed away earlier this week. Maxi’s legacy in Australia’s drag, queer nightlife, and the LGBTQIA+ community in general is immense – she had spent her drag career showing up for community, and tonight the community marched for her. As host Courtney Act called it at the beginning of the ABC coverage, this year was ‘Maxi Gras’.

In a cosmic twist that felt almost too on-the-nose for Mardi Gras, this year’s parade also unfolded beneath a rare and reportedly “astrologically fabulous” planetary alignment. Astrology is, let’s face it – one of the queerest things of all time, but whether you’re a die-hard astrology gay or just here for the glitter, it was hard to ignore the kismet of it — queers glittering under aligned planets on a newly heritage-listed protest route.

Protest threaded through the night

A notable absence was the float for Pride in Protest, which was removed from the parade flat list last night, reportedly over anti-Zionist posts on their social media pages.

However, there were political statements threaded throughout the evening. Messages around First Nations justice, trans rights — particularly support and access to healthcare for trans youth — anti-genocide, and much more.

People with signs saying ‘No Pride in Genocide’ and critical messages about Israeli President Isaac Herzog could be seen marching just behind the 78ers group at the beginning of the march.

The Greens held signs saying ‘WE SUPPORT PROTEST. WE OPPOSE GENOCIDE,’ and the Order of Perpetual Indulgence held signs that read ‘NO TO THE FAR RIGHT’ with pictures of neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell sucking a dummy.

“Now is how it always should have been, but back then we were being beaten, killed, and not [getting] much help from the police,” Sister Mary Arse Licked and Old Lace from the Order of Perpetual Indulgence told Star Observer before the parade began. “But we could end up back there again. Like, hello – look where we’re going! So [Mardi Gras] is more important than ever for everybody to embrace.”

The overwhelming tone of the night was one of collective defiance and ecstatic queer joy. From hyper-pop dance crews and community choirs to emergency services and LGBTQIA+ community organisations, the parade once again proved that Mardi Gras is so powerful because it’s a chorus of joy.

We are gearing up to celebrate five whole decades since Mardi Gras soon. With anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiment grabbing more headlines and emboldening homophobic and transphobic believers across the world, Mardi Gras truly is more important than ever before.

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade remains what it has always been: a protest wrapped in a party, a street reclaimed, and an annual  reminder that the existence, wellbeing, and joy of our community are not negotiable.