Mardi Gras volunteers honoured

Marchers, volunteers and staff who participated in this year’s Mardi Gras were honoured at an awards ceremony earlier this week.

Hosted at the Beresford Hotel in Surry Hills on Monday, March 25, the 2013 Sydney Mardi Gras Awards rewarded volunteers, festival-goers and community organisations across a range of categories, with awards for floats, Fair Day stalls, costumes and volunteers going out.

Awards for ‘Show Stopping Entry’ in the parade went to the Gay & Lesbian Association of Doctors and Dentists, the Carmen Rupe Memorial Trust, Macquarie Grammar School and the Department of Defence, which allowed service members to march in uniform for the first time this year.

The Ambulance Service of NSW took out Fair Day stall of the year, while ACON and queer youth counselling service Twenty10 received gongs for best community and youth stalls.

Lesbian roller derby tournament Battle on the Bent Track, burlesque artist Dallas Dellaforce and the Gay and Lesbian Australasian Tennis Open were picked as standout festival events.

Mardi Gras CEO Michael Rolik said the awards were a way of honouring the outstanding contribution community members made to the festival.

“It is with them that we are able to produce the magic of Mardi Gras every year and continue to grow the quality and excellence of this event,” Rolik said.

Meanwhile Mardi Gras have released a survey calling for people’s opinions on the festival’s relevance, politics and value to the community.

The survey queries people’s perception of the level of police presence at Mardi Gras, asking respondents if they feel the number of officers at events should be reduced.

The survey also includes questions designed to raise awareness of Mardi Gras’ sponsors, asking respondents if they drink certain types of alcohol, use gay dating app Gaydar and whether they regard major sponsor Optus as “contributing positively to the general community”.

In a series of questions on major sponsor ANZ Bank, the survey asks respondents if they know about ANZ’s “longstanding internal program supporting diversity in the workplace” and whether such knowledge would make them consider switching banks.

A Mardi Gras spokesperson defended the survey’s questions, saying they were similar to questions asked in previous years that “help us form decisions for the year ahead”.

The survey’s findings will not be made public.

You can take part in the survey here.