Mardi Gras
I’ve been slack, I admit it. This past Saturday was Sydney’s annual Mardi Gras parade, and we were invited to a colleague’s apartment to observe the festivities. Mardi Gras in Sydney is very much of a kind with the Carnivale celebrations of Rio, Venice, etc., insofar as it consists largely of throngs of people crowding the street and a parade wherein the participants ride elaborate floats (usually themed, often according to the political viewpoint of the Krew - a New Orleansian nomenclature - directing the particular contingent), sometimes with a band, always dressed in outlandish costumes, dancing, and generally showing off. Sydney’s Mardi Gras is distinct from all others I’m aware of in that it is run by and primarily a celebration of Gay and Lesbian culture. Its roots are in the Gay Rights movement, and the free-form organization (to put it generously) reflects its ad hoc origins and the freedoms the Gay and Lesbian community espouse. The parade is vastly colourful and hugely political, and tuned to a disco beat. Although this year’s parade nearly didn’t happen (there was trouble getting funding, and the television deal the parade’s enjoyed for some year now never happened), the 25th Annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade was, as always, an enormous success. My colleague’s apartment faces directly onto Oxford Street, where the parade takes place, at the corner of Crown Street, so our view was unparalleled. A stage was set up just down Oxford at Taylor Square for the parade organizers to direct the celebrations, and was just out of sight, but the parade’s the thing, and we didn’t miss a second of it, including a delightful send-up of John Howard and the impending war on Iraq, and a salute to Nicole Kidman's nose in The Hours. I can’t confirm that it is an annual ritual, but before the parade itself began, an anti-parade proceeded against the line of march, dressed in black, wearing the traditional red ribbons, and bearing banners calling to the observers to “Remember,” in tribute to the AIDS dead. The parade itself began with a roar, produced by the Dykes on Bikes, a surprisingly large number of lesbians on motorcycles (it's worth getting your class C license, I'd say, just to be able to join this group, and apparently a fair number of so-inclined women agree), who were greeted with great delight and fanfare by the spectators. Once this anarchistic group had passed, the parade itself soon began, and didn’t quit until after 10 p.m. There was music, lights, costumes, and a tremendous spirit. It was a terrific party, even if no one was tossing doubloons or beads to the crowd (a la New Orleans). Sydney’s Mardi Gras is world-class and like no other at the same time, much like the city itself..