Mardi Gras to split parade and party
The Mardi Gras parade and official after-party will be held on different weekends in 2010.
Next year’s parade will be held on February 27, while the party will be held on March 6. Fair Day will be held on 21 February and Harbour Party on 28 February.
The festival will also be cut back to two weeks.
New Mardi Gras CEO Anna McInerney said the decision to split the parade and party was an evolutionary one.
We’ve looked at how other major festival-type events are produced around the world and one of the clear lessons is that they run as a series of parties, she said in an official statement.
Rio and New Orleans are not just a single parade Â-” though they have that as their core. They encompass many small parades and parties and go on for days. That is what we want to bring to Sydney at Mardi Gras and in particular that final week.
The 2010 season theme, Mardi Gras’ History of the World, will be an exploration of gay people’s stories through the ages and a queer take on some of the great moments and figures of history.
Festival executive producer Danielle Harvey said the decision to further cut the festival back, now to two weeks, was also based on other international events.
A review of major arts festivals around the world showed they were typically two-week festivals, she said.
By moving to two weeks we will be able to create a much more impactful experience for both local and international audiences.
NMG chair David Imrie said the changes to the festival would continue to make it one of the best in the world.
Mardi Gras has already evolved out of all recognition from the 1978 march to become a major arts festival, party promoter and world-famous event, he said.
This would not have been possible without flexibility and creativity in how we program. A good example was the move to a summer parade. If that hadn’t happened the event would never have grown to the stature it has.
Have your say: Should the parade and party be held on different weekends?
Vote now in our online poll.
Splitting the Parade and Party will be the final nail in the coffin for MG. People were already getting over it. It’s expensive, the Parade is too long, boring at times and full of straight teenagers gleefully wishing fags and dykes a happy Mardi Gras….at their OWN PARADE!! The Party is…..well, lets just say, we’ve all been there and done that! The fact that it’s written up as a must do social event for heterosexuals in every magazine in Australia has ruined any atmosphere for me, and frankly, I’d rather put the hundreds of dollars I would’ve spent on the night towards a nice holiday at a gay resort. Now, with the events held over two nights a week apart, any atmosphere has just been killed off! The whole thing may as well now be cancelled, and few would truly care anymore!
OMG! Maybe just maybe…. an ‘alternative’ style ‘after party’ could evolve after the parade…. perhaps then those members of the gay community who aren’t pill popping and powdering their noses in copious amounts of illicit drugs… might have to mingle and interact with the rest of us in a more responsible way!
God forbid the Gay Community in Sydney and Australia at large deceides to ditch the drugs and clean up its act?!!
A change is as a good as a rest….
I would hope this would promote smaller more intimate after parties around the whole of the Oxford Street/Newtown and Sydney Areas.
I have been involved with Mardi Gras both as a volunteer and more recently a member for many years. I was there when the organisation went bust last time. Furthermore I helped by volunteering and raising it from the ashes again.
As a member, decisions of this calibre really need to be voted on at an AGM or extraordinary meeting before being announced to the public!
The latest member email from NMG states that the board are asking for our feedback on what should happen post parade rather than overturning this decision or calling for a vote. This is negligent behaviour and fails to understand major gravity of the situation.
When Mardi Gras did go bankrupt last time there were many paid employee positions therefore creating a form of hierarchal management within our community organisation.
It seems that this is happening again.
After viewing the NMG website recruiting for a Head of Events, Head of Marketing & Publicity and Festival Coordinator is occurring. I can’t help but think that these positions will only lead to a further flow on of other paid jobs within the organisation therefore further increasing its commercialisation.
Further to this New Mardi Gras have announced big bold plans that they are moving to a new office in Oxford Street whereas I believe the current property in Petersham is sufficient if some minor renovations occurred. The questions remains and prime concern being is there enough money for all of this if the party, one of their biggest fundraising events fails due to this decision?
It was not so long ago that the Gay Games in Sydney which had a similar event structure lost many millions of dollars due to mismanagement. These recent financial events of the former Mardi Gras and Sydney Gay Games cannot simply be ignored. More importantly our world is experiencing an economic downturn therefore in these tough economic times the decision to increase spending and risk is questionable.
Further negligent behaviour is the previously advertised dates of Mardi Gras 2010 having been published on their website for quite some time now!
There is a way to change this and it’s not too late for the NMG board to change their decision.
Further to this as members we have voting rights and can change the decision ourselves at the 2009 AGM! There are several ways that this can occur, one being an agenda item or another as voting for a new board however there would need to be a sufficient amount of nominations for these positions when announced. As members we need to jam pack the AGM this year, not unlike those similar times that happened under the Koala Oxford Hotel in the 90’s.
Come on Members, this year is the time to show up and vote!!!
I received credible information some 6 weeks ago that this change was driven by an agreement with the Atlantis people which obliged NMG to move the Parade to the last Saturday in February, while the standing booking for the RHI/Hordern is the first Saturday in March. Apparently an attempt was made by NMG to move the Party date to the Parade date but Playbill (who control the Showground/Fox venues) rejected it on the basis that the venue was booked for the Gift Fair. In other words, the separated dates were the result of a combination of an undisclosed commercial obligation and a plain and simple oversight. Any suggestion that it is by design is an ex post facto attempt to cover up.
I LOVE Mardi Gras. I love everything about it. The party, the parade, the whole festival, fair day, harbour party, the film festival, comedy nights, gala events, plays and visual arts. I even did a car rally one year. I’m a 45 year old dyke. I haven’t missed a parade or party for 24 years. I usually leave the party at 8am. I don’t get tired despite watching or participating in the parade before the party. I genuinely think the various boards over the years have done a great job that is largely thankless. I thought last year’s parade and party was one of the best and I had an amazing time.
This is a very radical decision they have made. I am exceptionally disappointed at the parade and party being split. Nothing can replicate the high of going to one of the world’s great partys after the parade. The pride, love and sense of family and friendship is unique and something I don’t want to lose by going to a club I can visit any night of the week, after the parade. NMG are now suggesting a members party after the parade. Err, we already have a pretty good party after the parade that I personally quite liked.
Apart from the parade party split, which seriously affects Sydney visitors, is the now two week festival, which affects sydney-siders more. Kicking off with Fair day (on a sunday) effectively gives the whole festival just two Fridays and Saturdays to fit in everything with the parade on one saturday and the party on the other and harbour party on the other Sunday. Where does Tongue Twister go? The bitch night? Where do all the bears events go? When is the Great Debate? How do you fit the film festival in? Pool party long gone? Any chance of getting to any visual arts events on either weekend? What about plays? How about divas like Joan Rivers et al, when do we see them? How does anyone have any time to practice their parade routines with all this stuff on? Even if we all have the time and the money to go out every single night of the festival, I really can’t see how we fit it all in. And who has the time or the money to do it all? I don’t mind taking the odd day off for Mardi Gras but I can’t take two weeks off.
Then there’s the personal matter of having just two weeks ago booked non-transferable, non-refundable flights for a recovery holiday in Byron after carefully consulting the NMG website to check the date of the parade, assuming the party would be on the same night, as it has been for the last 30 years. I feel very much for the Atlantis cruise people and other international visitors that books fares in advance based on advertised dates for the parade. A decision such as splitting the party and parade should have been made for the 2011 season and with plenty of warning and consultation, not for 2010.
I can’t say I’m happy with any of this and think it is a very rash decision that isn’t going to work. From the comments here, the majority of people are not happy. I think this is a very irresponsible decision and I don’t know a soul who was consulted at any stage. I am a NMG member and all I can remember is completing a survey about DJs and internationl acts. Why on earth would they look to events such as New Orleans and Rio for guidance. They are VERY different beasts. I’ve no idea why people keep saying Mardi Gras is unsuccessful and needs to change. It seems every event I go to (and I go to a lot) is packed out and fabulous. (Maybe except Harbour Party but until you can control the weather and the police, it will always be problematic). This is one unhappy member.
Come on people – give it a go and see how it works …
You just never know, it may be the best decision MG has ever made!
I certainly intend on telling David Imrie exactly what I think about this decision – with my vote at the AGM.
Bugger the emails … no point in having a say after the horse is bolted.
I’d encourage all NMG members to do the same.
First Glamstand, then Homebush, now this.
Shame shame shame
wonder how much of this decision has been influenced by the government funding?
first it was Homebush – now this … were we getting softened up?
I am not really sure what to think about this …. I guess we will have to wait and see if it works
Am sure if it doesn’t Mardi Gras will change it again
Well If Mardi Gras wanted comment, here it is … they really needn’t have gone any further than SSO …. fairly clear which paper people read in this town from this reaction ..
I think mardi gras should have had a grandfathering clause so existing community members can still have our official party on parade night. We’ve lived our whole gay lives having only one night a year to claim as our own, it would be unfair to expect us to celebrate twice a year now.
It seems you have to be a millionaire to enjoy the Benefits of being Gay.
Warren, are you serious?
Are you really saying it’s up to every member of New Mardi Gras to personally telephone the Chair to find out their reasoning behind this decision?
Perhaps you’d like to post his phone number here so we can all call up and talk to him ‘at length’? I’m sure he’d love that.
Surely a members forum would be better so it can be explained to everyone ‘at length’ at the same time?
Editor’s Note: David Imrie has agreed for SSO to publish his email address for those wanting to offer their opinions direct. It is David.Imrie@mardigras.org.au.
Martin if MG parade was non community, then why does is it filled with floats that are from community organisations?
All you people who claim that its a good thing will just simply arrive on the night of the party and winge and carry on, on how dead it is – I know youre type.
I don’t believe it when people say ‘This may be the last Mardi Gras’… AS IF!
It is such a huge cash cow- it just needs to be better managed. And that is what they are trying to do.
WTF?! Over two weekends? That will require twice as many braincells! I’ve only got 3 left!
I don’t think this change in itself is necessarily a bad one. The Mardi Gras board have essentially turned one party into two, and let’s face it, without the official after party, it’s not like we’re all going to go home to bed once the march is finished – we’ll divide up into the different bars and clubs of Oxford st, giving a boost to the whole strip.
What is a problem, though, (and this is obvious from everyones comments) is the lack of consultation. It suggests an arrogance and a contempt for the community that I think many people will struggle to get over.
Refreshing the formula might be interesting.
Many of my friends are interested in being involved in the parade again. They do not have to make a choice between being exhausted before the party by being in the Parade and getting value out of their party ticket outlay (a not inconsiderable amount these days.
There was a notable lack of buzz in the week prior to the parade. So it will be fun to see what happens in 2010.
As for hoping it will save Habour Party, don’t know. A few changes there might be worthwhile. How much did it make this year??
For various reasons – age being one of them – I gave up on both the party and the parade some time ago. The arts festival, however, is a different matter. It’s a shame it’s being reduced to only two weeks. Looks like NMG is catering largely to the young party set. Don’t worry about anyone else – those of us who feel excluded because we’re neither young enough nor ‘beautiful’ enough will go just have to make do with a truncated arts festival.
The parade party split is going to be a REAL pain for those of us inter-staters. Is there a need to drag the MG out? It serves its purpose over one weekend well enough.
hhmm will be interesting to see how it goes….the effect it will have on international visitors, how many straight people hit the street, will the buzz die down between the events, the boom it will have for venues (after parade), will politics change at all….of course with any kind of change there is teething issues, but I’m interested to see what transpires.
Um so what, when the parade finishes next year, independent promoters will have thier private parties running making money for thier own back pockets?
Wow, seems just about everybody has an opinion about this – thank God SSO allows us to voice our opinions on this site.
What is clear to me is that the so-called consultation process Mardi Gras went through probably didn’t exist – or was a poll of such a small number of people it was really a non-event.
What a shame … roll on the AGM … I will certainly be voting this time around.
If I’m not mistaken the Mardi Gras is, for all intensive purposes, a private business. The very notion that it is a “community” event has been lost along time ago. I think the GLBT community of Sydney needs to re think entirely, the very notion of “community” as it pertains to this event. We should start by being honest about what this parade truly is . . .now.
Mardi Gras may have begun as a political protest but it truly isn’t that any more, despite the infusion of political satire (etc) in the parade, the reality is, it is primarily a parade to entertain people.
On that note, if we start by seeing Mardi Gras for what it is . . .a parade and party event for entertaining people, and for making money, and stop confusing it with the ideals of “community” and the very important political work that continually needs to be done in our fight for equality, then i think we will all be less inclined to hang all our hopes and dreams as a “community” on an annual parade and party that serves only to make money for the Mardi Gras board and businesses associated with hosting it.
Mardi Gras is not a community event like the countless gay pride events held annual else where, it has morphed into a total different beast with a specific corporate agenda . . . and we all know that.
And that is fine, as long as we all understand that.
However as a community we are still struggling to ratify our rights as individuals within Australia society, and are fighting to be taken seriously politically. I don’t think Mardi Gras is helping us in this regard any more.
Instead i think it has created a very negative perception, (politically speaking) for us as a community that links us with drugs and partying rather than the more serious day to day, practical issues we still need to fight for.
That is why we need to start a discussion in the round about what Mardi Gras is, and start separating it from what our political fight ought to be, because we still have a long way to go on that front in Australia.
NUH crazy idea i fly from the snowy mountains victoria,i march in the parade and go to the party the excitement of the whole day is electric,why ruin a great thing its worked for 32 years gone from success to success.We always came down for 5 days,so we cant stay for any longer.We choose between the parade one week or the party the next week,we cant do both sydney is way to expensive.I think its a rotten decision and youll ruin what is a proven format,in a downturn of the economy.Bad decision but youll only learn by your mistakes and this one will be a WHOPPER,Its seen as the best party in the world.AND YOUR ABOUT TO RUIN IT
Ummm, Jenny Mann… Are you just a trouble-maker who gets off by spruiking in public from the sidelines? Or do you have such apparent genuine concerns that you have contacted NMG directly? I called David Imrie today directly and he was kind enough to discuss the reasoning behind the committee’s decision at length. Maybe you might like to do the same rather than spruik incessantly on this forum?
Is there is any truth to the rumour that the reason for the change has little to do with “feedback” and everything to do with NMG having booked with parade with the City of Sydney ahead of booking the afterparty with Fox studios only to find out Fox was already booked on the night of 27 February.
I suppose a suituation like a large group of visiting Americans threatening to sue for their lost holiday deposits when NMG wanted to change the parade date they’d advised them when they thoughtnof changing to parade date to coincide (as always) with a not-yet-booked party venue wouldn’t have helped any either.
Then again I’m sure its just a terrible rumour – otherwise NMG would’ve consulted with the membership about such a major change, wouldn’t they?