Buy Rainbow 2025: Celebrating LGBTQ+ Creativity, Commerce & Community
Image: Photos: Supplied.
Sydney’s only fair exclusively for LGBTQIA-owned and operated businesses is back — and in 2025, Buy Rainbow is shining brighter than ever.
On Saturday 25 October 2025, from 10am to 4pm, Paddington Town Hall will transform into a vibrant marketplace celebrating queer entrepreneurship, creativity, and connection. With free entry, a tote bag giveaway, and more than 25 LGBTQIA+ stallholders, it’s a one-day festival of local pride, progress, and the power of the rainbow economy.
Buy Rainbow: A celebration with deep roots
Delivered in partnership with the City of Sydney, Buy Rainbow coincides with NSW Small Business Month, making it both a celebration and a call to action: to shop local, support queer, and invest in the economic strength of our communities.
The event’s lineage runs deep. Buy Rainbow traces its heritage back to GAY FAIR ’82, the grassroots community marketplace founded by Michael Glynn — who founded Star Observer and the original Sydney Gay and Lesbian Business Association, now the Pride Business Association (PBA). That first fair ultimately inspired what we now know as Mardi Gras Fair Day.
As PBA President Jarrod Lomas explains, “Buy Rainbow honours the community spirit that built Sydney’s queer business scene from the ground up. It’s about visibility, progress, and economic empowerment — values that have been at the heart of our movement for more than forty years.”
He continues, “When people choose to buy from LGBTQIA+-owned businesses, they’re not just making a purchase. They’re helping build a more inclusive, resilient, and self-sustaining community.”
A day to connect, celebrate, and grow
Across the day, visitors can browse local makers, creatives, and service providers, enjoy delicious food, and soak up live entertainment. There’s even a happy hour from 2.30pm, and an official after party at Stonewall Hotel to keep the celebrations going into the night.
Stallholders span everything from design and fashion to tech, wellness, and food — showcasing the incredible diversity and innovation within Sydney’s LGBTQIA+ business community. And for the lucky few, there’ll be major giveaways, including tickets to a iconic queer international act coming to Sydney in December.
Lomas says the event has grown into a cornerstone of the PBA’s work.
“Buy Rainbow is more than a market. It’s a living, breathing showcase of our community’s talent and tenacity,” he explains. “Every stallholder, every volunteer, every visitor is helping shape the future of the rainbow economy.”
Join the ‘Buy Rainbow’ movement
PBA is encouraging everyone to visit, volunteer, or exhibit, and to help grow a thriving LGBTQIA+ small-business ecosystem that reflects the pride and diversity of our community.
As Lomas wrote for Star Observer earlier this year, “The rainbow economy is powerful because it’s personal. It’s built by people who live their values, who care for each other, and who know that when we rise together, everyone wins.”
So mark your calendars, grab a tote, and come celebrate the best of queer creativity at Buy Rainbow 2025 — where community and commerce come together under one joyful, inclusive roof.
Buy Rainbow 2025 key details
Paddington Town Hall, 249 Oxford Street, Paddington
Saturday 25 October 2025, 10am–4pm
Free entry | Tote bag giveaway | Happy Hour 2.30pm | After Party at Stonewall Hotel
You can find more information on the Buy Rainbow hub.
Star Observer is the media partner for Pride Business Association’s Buy Rainbow 2025 event.
