Glam it up with the best of them

You’ve been to your fair share of Mardi Gras parades. You have watched the spectacle from a mate’s house right on the parade route (a.k.a. five blocks away). You have been shoved off a milk crate by hundreds of screaming, sweaty people. And you have talked your way into the marshalling zone by disguising yourself as the make-up artist (or was that just me?).

But if there is one experience that binds us all together, it’s our annual aching glances at the irrepressibly happy campers in the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation Glamstand.

You know the ones? They carry gourmet picnic baskets, watch pre-parade entertainment and wave their arms around ecstatically in eons of personal space.

If it’s the cost of the tickets that have deterred you from BGF’s best view of the parade Glamstand, it could be time to re-evaluate your priorities. Because all the money raised goes to the ongoing work of the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation for men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS.

So not only do you get to view the parade from a raised or tiered platform, you get to do your bit for the less fortunate in our community.

Tickets to the Glamour Bar are $175 plus GST and booking fee. There are no seats, but you’re within arms reach of the parade, and all food and drinks are included.

Glamstand Reserved tickets will cost you $120 plus GST and booking fee, but you get reserved seating, an uninterrupted view of the parade, and access to licensed food and bar outlets. For an extra $33, a picnic box will greet you on arrival.

For those who haven’t experienced the luxury of the BGF Glamstand, the time has come for you to do yourself and, most importantly, those living with HIV/AIDS, a favour.

The site opens at 6pm for a parade start of 7.45 pm. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.bgf.org.au or www.ticketmaster.com.au.