Sydney WorldPride launches biggest event in city since Olympics

Kat Wong14:13, Feb 16 2023

ANNA KUCERA/SUPPLIED
Sydney WorldPride creative director Ben Graetz (in drag as his alter ego Miss Ellaneous).

With rainbow trains and trams at the ready, the stage is set for WorldPride to take over Sydney, Australia for the harbour city's biggest event since the 2000 Olympics.

The 17-day celebration of the LGBTQI community opens on Friday with 500,000 visitors expected to attend some 300 free and ticketed events.

Arts Minister Ben Franklin says the festivities will give Sydney "a rainbow-coloured shot in the arm".

"We're all holding hands to show the world what an extraordinary city this is - that it is truly vibrant and inclusive and diverse," he said on Thursday.


Rainbow-wrapped trams and trains will take visitors to a variety of events including Fair Day, an all-day extravaganza of food, shopping and picnic opportunities.

Locations around Sydney's CBD are painted as a rainbow display.

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade will celebrate its 45th anniversary when it takes the street party back to its spiritual home on Oxford Street on February 25.

The celebrations will conclude with the Pride March on March 5, when 50,000 people will walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in a show of global equality.

Sydney WorldPride CEO Kate Wickett says everyone is invited.

"There are going to be parties. Lots and lots of them," she told reporters.

"Parties, performance art, theatre, comedy, sports - you name it, we've got it because you're all invited.

"The city will be abuzz and alive with colour and we couldn't be more proud."

However, Wickett says WorldPride is more than a month-long jamboree.

1000 Sydneysiders create a Progress Pride flag at the Opera House

"We're a party with purpose," she said.

The harbour city will also host the southern hemisphere's largest-ever LGBTQI human rights conference.

More than 1500 activists, commissioners and politicians, including United States envoy Jessica Stern, will discuss issues affecting the queer community around the world.

"Sydney is a wonderful and open city for all and we want to share that with the world," Wickett said.

"We are a beacon and we have a responsibility to help others."

Sydney Mardi Gras CEO Albert Kruger says the event is also an opportunity to shine a light on issues on Sydney's doorstep.

"Here in NSW, the home of Mardi Gras, religious schools can still discriminate against LGBTQI students and teachers," he said.

"Trans and gender diverse people face cruel barriers accessing identity documents and LGBTQI people are still subject to conversion practices," he said.

"We still have a long way to go and this is indeed a vehicle for protest and change."