Mardi Gras 2025: Where we are all free to be ourselves
Image: Joseph Mayers/Supplied by Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Listen up girls, gays, theys and everyone in between! Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 2025 is here, promising 17 unforgettable days of celebration, creativity, and the purest essence of pride.
Now in its 47th year, this globally adored festival is set to light up all of Sydney from 14 February to 2 March. Prepare yourself for sickening parties, exhilarating performances and exciting community events, culminating in the historic and always-dazzling Mardi Gras Parade on 1 March.
This year’s theme, Free to Be, celebrates the significant progress we’ve made for LGBTQIA+ equality, and our ongoing fight for true freedom of expression and inclusivity for all.
“Free To Be is a manifesto of what our community has desired and fought for,” said Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras CEO Gil Beckwith. “It’s about embracing individuality, standing together through dark times, and protecting the progress we’ve made as we push for the progress we deserve.”
Australia’s most cherished queer event began on a chilly night in 1978, intended to be a joyous moving street party with the valiant goal of denouncing the criminalisation of homosexuality. The 500+ participants chanted ‘out of the bars, into the streets’, urging partygoers in Oxford Street bars to join the march; join the fight.
The first-ever Mardi Gras march became a riot, ending with brutal violence between police and protesters, and 53 arrests.
This vicious response only ignited the passion of the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies, transforming Mardi Gras into a watershed moment in the history of Australia’s LGBTQIA+ rights movement. Over the years Mardi Gras continued to grow, until it became the glittering extravaganza it is today.
As always, Mardi Gras offers something for everyone. From Fair Day, a family-friendly day-to-night celebration packed with entertainment and food, to its legendary parties like Laneway, Sissy Ball, the Mardi Gras Afterparty and more. For those looking to kick back and connect, the Mardi Gras 2025 calendar is full of community events, from queer walking tours, to community sporting events, to a range of talented performing artists.
And, of course, culminating in the iconic Mardi Gras Parade, described by Beckwith as “the soul of Mardi Gras—a glittering, joyous march where stories are told, progress is celebrated, and voices unite.”
No matter which event(s) you choose, Mardi Gras is an unstoppable reminder of the community’s resilience and determination to celebrate loudly and proudly.
Get ready to show up, show out, and be Free to Be yourself this Mardi Gras season!
