Mardi Gras Launches Community Survey For Future Events

Mardi Gras Launches Community Survey For Future Events
Image: Image: Supplied

While NSW’s partying scene remains mummified due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (SGLMG) is taking this opportunity to touch base with the LGBTQI community about the future of events in their festival.

Through an online survey, Mardi Gras hopes to collect a variety of views from all facets of the LGBTQI community about the future of their events, and is offering five lucky survey-takers Diamond Club tickets for next year’s Parade.

A spokesperson from the Mardi Gras team told Star Observer that the aim of the survey is not only to unpack opinions about Mardi Gras’ most popular events, but also to gain a better understanding of what the LGBTQI community wants in the future.

“This survey covers all our Mardi Gras festival events – including Fair Day, Sissy Ball, the Parade, the Party and all the many other events which make up the festival each year,” they said.

“We’re keen to check in with our community about what they thought of the events they have attended, and their preferences for the future of the festival.

“It also asks for feedback on Mardi Gras more broadly and what our community hopes and expects to see and hear from us throughout the year.

This years’ Parade and afterparty were deeply rooted in controversy, with an investigation by Fair Trading NSW underway after thousands of afterparty attendees were barred from entering the Hordern Pavilion following the Mardi Gras Parade.

Furthermore, Mardi Gras and NSW Police came under fire this year after protestors in a queer activist group called the Department of Homo Affairs, were forcibly removed during the Parade after disrupting procession-flow while carrying banners denouncing the Liberal Party, whose official float travelled behind them.

The survey will hopefully give all LGBTQI community-members a chance to have their voices heard over these matters, and many more.

The survey itself takes only a few minutes to fill out and asks a broad range of questions regarding Mardi Gras’ presence within the community.

As NSW now shifts to a post-COVID world, Mardi Gras also wants to gain a better insight into what matters to the entire community, as well as a better understanding of how Mardi Gras should change for the new world order.

The Mardi Gras team spokesperson iterated that a greater array of voices heard in the survey means more community-influence in future festival decisions.

As well as events and parties, the survey’s findings will also be used to guide Mardi Gras’ voice in deciding what the organisation stands for now, and in the future.

“We are hoping to receive a widespread and diverse mix of views from throughout our communities to help shape a new era of Mardi Gras on the road to an exciting Sydney WorldPride 2023,” they told Star Observer.

“Each year it’s vital we reach out to parts of our communities we can work more to include. We understand the expectations of the community for the organisation may shift due to many evolving factors such as COVID-19.

“We plan to use the feedback and ideas to help us update events in the festival. For example, Luna Park Family Fun Day, Sissy Ball and the Kaftan Party were added to the Mardi Gras festival in recent years as we recognised the need for new kinds of events to cater to specific audiences and profile amazing community talent.

“In addition to this, we will utilise the information to guide future discussions in our town hall series to further engage our community in open and transparent discussion and ensure we are continuously consulting with all stakeholders of the organisation.”

Click here to fill out the quick survey and have your voice heard for what Mardi Gras should do now, and in the future.

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