Tag: parade

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Sydney Mardi Gras Parade 2026

In Sydney, once again it was time to head to the streets of Darlinghurst for a celebration of diversity and inclusion in the form of the 48th Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, the focal point of the Sydney Mardi Gras Festival. This year with more than 170 floats and 10,000 marchers, the parade was an explosion of colour.

It’s an opportunity for everyone to dress up, perk up and have a good time, from the crowds of people lining Oxford Street and Flinders Street (the main parade route) to the numerous participants in the parade itself, adorning the various floats. This year’s theme was Ecstatica  – Our Joy is Power! It was a wild mix of pride, passion and glitter-fuelled resistance. Following are some of my photographs from my time spent during the preparations of the parade and at the event.

Positive Life NSW

I shot the 2026 parade for the organisation Positive Life NSW. I traveled along the parade with the Positive Life float, capturing the joyful moments of the interaction between the parade participants and the general public cheering us on from the sidelines. It was invigorating and celebratory. The energy of the crowd swept you up in the moment, so much so that the 2km walk seemed to come and go in a flash.

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Sydney Mardi Gras Parade, 2025

While photographing the parade entry for Positive Life NSW I managed to snap images of some of the other entrants. Here is a smiling selection of the other people marching and cheering, having a good time, sharing the love, dressing up, and adding extra “bling” to their lives for the night.

Mardi Gras is a well known celebration of “all shapes and sizes”, inclusion, diversity in all its flavours and simply a wonderful feeling of good will to your community.  It was easy to feel that generous mood amongst the participants. It gave me a feeling of hope for the future.

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Positive Life NSW marches in the Sydney Mardi Gras 2025

I had the great pleasure (and absolute buzz) to photograph the Positive Life NSW marching entry for the 2025 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade.

While I have regularly photographed the Mardi Gras over the years, the one and only previous time I photographed the parade from “the inside” was in 2009, when Matthew Mitcham was Chief of Parade after he won gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Now, it was a great experience to again have that same point of view, sixteen years later and with the same sense of excitement and celebration.

The events started at the offices of Positive Life NSW in Surry Hills where everyone taking part congregated, received a branded t-shirt and a travel pack of sandwiches and other snacks. Once the sun set and the parade began at Hyde Park, time flew by as we were cheered along by thousands of people lining Oxford Street and Taylor Square.

Students from the @academyofmakeupaus (Sydney campus) offered their services to participants in the parade to enhance the visual presentation with fabulous face painting.
Once the face painting was complete, t-shirts collected and people suitably nourished we all head towards Hyde Park and the marshalling area.
Everyone collected in College Street after locating their float. There was a short wait as people congregated. Then the parade began….excitement prevailed! The Positive Life float started quite early as we were early on in the line-up.
Then…..suddenly, after the waiting, we headed off to start the parade at Whitlam Square. That’s when time seemed to speed up….and in a flash we were almost at the end of the parade and it was all over.