Happy Mardi Gras!
Running from 16 February to 3 March, this year’s Mardi Gras festivities include an exciting program of over 100 community events, parties, theatre, comedy, music and more.
ACON will be out and about at the festival to help our communities keep healthy and stay safe.
ULTRA VIOLET | Saturday 22 February 2025
Ultra Violet is Mardi Gras’ big event especially designed by and for LGBTQ+ women. This year it’s happening at the National Art School from 3pm through to midnight.
Spread across four stages, the day-to-night party will feature international, interstate and local DJs, bands and performers.
ACON’s Women Health Project will be there – visit our table for resources on LGBTQ+ women’s health and cancer prevention information.
Ultra Violet, Saturday 22 February at the National Art School, Darlinghurst. For more information and booking details, visit the Mardi Gras website here.
MARDI GRAS PARADE | Saturday 28 February 2026
The 48th annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade is set to take over Oxford Street, Flinders Street and Anzac Parade on Saturday 28 February 2026. Set your true self free as the Mardi Gras magic makes its way down the heritage-listed Parade route for one of the largest LGBTQIA+ nighttime parades in the world.
Over 200 floats from every corner of our communities will strut, stroll and roll from Hyde Park to Moore Park on Sydney’s night-of-nights. As is tradition, our fearless protectors the Dykes on Bikes, LGBTQIA+SB First Nations communities and our beloved 78ers will lead over 11,000 marchers under the 2026 Festival theme: ECSTATICA!
The First Nations Float, produced by ACON’s Aboriginal Project, will once again lead the Parade, while ACON’s float in the Mardi Gras Parade will showcase our latest campaign.
Mardi Gras Parade, Saturday 28 February from 7.30pm, Oxford and Flinders Sts, Darlinghurst and Moore Park.
Plan your Parade experience with all the info on the Mardi Gras website.
MARDI GRAS PARTY | Saturday 28 February 2026
The 2026 MARDI GRAS PARTY
Saturday 28 February
8:30pm-3am
The Showring, Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park.
As Mardi Gras revellers dance the night away, ACON will be there to ensure partygoers keep well and stay safe. We’ll be on hand with information and resources at the ACON Info Desk, handily located near the entrance. ACON’s ‘SEXPERTS’ will be handing out safe sex packs throughout the night, and ACON Rovers will be patrolling the party to provide information, support and assistance.
My Sovereign Black Body | Exhibition 16 Feb – 13 Apr
Boomalli Aboriginal Arts Cooperative is proud to announce the 2024 Mardi Gras Exhibition is My Sovereign Black Body, curated by Wamba Wamba man, Steven Lindsay Ross.
My Sovereign Black Body is a RECLAMATION of our skin and bones and essence, of the beauty defined by our own eyes and by Country, kinship connection, song, culture and dance – it is a celebration of blackness by queer black artists.
Exhibiting artists include Jeffrey Samuels, Jasmine Sarin, Ella Noah Bancroft, Hayley Pigram, Peta-Joy Williams, Kyra Kum-Sing, Kirilly Dawn, Dennis Golding, Jessica Johnson, Nioka Lowe-Brennan, Nola Taylor, Graeme Walker, Nathan Frank, Peter Waples-Crowe, Luke Close and Nebbi Boii.
The exhibition launches on Friday 16th February 202 and will run until Saturday 13th April 2024, at Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative in Leichhardt.
Opening Night: Friday 16th February 6pm – 8pm will be a fabulous night of entertainment and meet the incredible Boomalli Artists. All Welcome. RSVP here.
From the Pitch to Progress – LGBTQIA+ Representation in Sport
As part of Mardi Gras’ QUEER FUTURES talks on Saturday 24 February 2024, hear from professional athletes on their perspectives towards culture, progress and practice at the highest level. This 90-minute panel presentation, developed and facilitated by Pride in Sport, will bring together current and former professional athletes from major sports to share what it means to be Queer in sports.
Presented in partnership with ACON’s Pride in Sport.
Women’s sport is finally getting the attention it deserves and the athletes are redefining their codes along the way – modelling inclusivity and excellence. In 2023, the Matildas in the FIFA Women’s World Cup captured hearts while catalysing change within the sporting world and beyond.
Their successes have sparked important conversations about how sport can be a powerful force of inclusion and a voice for positive change. Codes and teams are creating spaces where athletes can thrive regardless of gender or sexual orientation, fostering cultures of acceptance and community. Government policy, marketing and community groups must all play a part is this sporting revolution – but how?
Our panelists – Moya Dodd AO, past Matildas Vice-Captain, Asian Football Confederation Vice-President and FIFA Council member; Danielle Laidley, AFL player, coach and transgender advocate; Dr Karen Menzies, the First Indigenous Matilda; and Leigh Wardell, Original 1978 Matilda – discuss the power of collaboration and understanding between these groups in creating a more inclusive future, with Pride in Sport’s Beau Newell.
FROM THE PITCH TO PROGRESS: A Closer Look At LGBTQIA+ Representation in Sport
Part of Mardi Gras’ QUEER FUTURES weekend of talks
10am-11:30am on Saturday 24 February 2024
Cellblock Theatre, National Art School
MORE INFO HERE AND BOOK TICKETS HERE
QUEER SCREEN MARDI GRAS FILM FESTIVAL | Screenings 12-26 February 2026
ACON is proud to partner with QueerScreen, and we are delighted to co-present a series of sessions at this year’s festival:
——————
NOVA & ALICE – presented in partnership with Word on the Sheets
Emma Bucht’s heartfelt romantic drama celebrates the joy of unexpected love and new beginnings, set against the backdrop of a music festival tour.
Saturday 14 February – BOOK TICKETS HERE
——————
3670 – presented in partnership with the Asian Gay Men Project
South Korean director PARK Joon-ho’s debut feature captures vulnerability with empathy and restraint, portraying what it means to be an outsider, both within a country and a community, in contemporary Seoul.
Wednesday 18 February – BOOK HERE.
——————
ON THE SEA – presented in partnership with CAN WE, ACON’s LGBTQ+ Cancer Resource
In a close-knit Welsh coastal town where everyone knows everyone else’s business, intimacy becomes both a refuge and a risk, in this sweaty, salt-weathered romantic drama.
Wednesday 18 February – BOOK HERE.
——————
ROW OF LIFE – presented in partnership with Pride in Sport
Executive-produced by Olympic gold medalist Sue Bird, Row of Life tells the remarkable story of Paralympian Angela Madsen’s most ambitious journey yet: a solo, unassisted row across the Pacific Ocean.
Saturday 21 February – BOOK HERE.
——————
THESIS ON A DOMESTICATION – presented in partnership with TransHub
A trans actress balances her hedonistic lifestyle with her public image in this compelling erotic melodrama, executive produced by Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal (Y Tu Mamá También).
Saturday 21 February – BOOK HERE
————-
AFTERNOON DELIGHT – FREE screening of ‘I Was Born This Way’ with the LOVE Project
Afternoon Delight is a movie matinee, afternoon tea and intergenerational social gathering celebrating our older lesbian, gay, bi+, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) community members. LGBTQ+ people of all ages and allies are welcome.
Enjoy the short films ‘Lesbian Custody’ and ‘You Can Call Me Lou’ and the feature film ‘I Was Born This Way’, the story of pioneering disco artist and Archbishop Carl Bean’s groundbreaking impact on queer representation. Delicious treats, drag celebrities, networking and access to local health information available after the screening.
Presented by ACON’s LOVE Project and Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme (ACVVS), in partnership with Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival.
Sunday 22 February 2026
1.30pm to 5pm
Event Cinemas, 505/525 George St, Sydney
FREE EVENT – BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL – CLICK HERE
———————————–
For the full Mardi Gras Film Festival program, visit the Queer Screen website here.
