Word: mardi
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Catholic countries the world over are celebrating carnival this month to store up the fun before Lent settles in. But in Sydney, the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is simply an excuse for the fun-loving city to throw a big bash. During the three-week-long festival more than 500,000 visitors and residents take part in one of the world's largest celebrations of queer culture, featuring drag-queen shows, coming-out theater, erotic poetry, porn readings, art exhibits, glamorous parties and lesbian rangers paroling the city's parks...
...final weekend Sydney explodes in a riot of colored sequins, feather boas and fluorescent lights, as representatives of all aspects of gay life, from lesbian grannies to members of the Australian army, take to the streets for the annual Mardi Gras parade (this year on March 2). Dykes on Bikes, who traditionally lead the marchers down Oxford Street, rev up the crowd of more than 500,000, honking horns, raising fists and baring breasts along the way. They are followed by drag queens in full regalia and troops of shirtless muscle men dancing to the rhythms of Madonna, Cher...
...Mardi Gras party after the parade that draws in the dance devotees and those searching for sheer unbridled pleasure. Up to 25,000 people?mainly gays and lesbians?follow the parade to a cluster of entertainment venues in the inner-Sydney suburb of Moore Park for a 12-hour dance extravaganza, which starts at 10 p.m. For one night, the cavernous, and usually vacant, Royal Hall of Industries is transformed into a dance club with more laser lights and go-go boys than a Britney Spears concert. Thousands dance to one beat in the main hall, the rest scatter...
Only members of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras organization can purchase tickets to the dance party, but straight guests are welcome to join. While feathers and sequins are not out of place, the party outfit is best kept to a minimum. Since there are at times 5,000 heaving bodies heating up the main dance floor, false eyelashes don't stand a chance. One year, as the sky grew lighter and sweat-soaked dancers with platform shoes in hand and wigs askew stumbled from the hall, one fellow dressed in a tutu made out of plush koala bears...
...most popular for gay men. Lesbians gather at clubs and bars such as Caesars, the Green Park Hotel and Home nightclub. Straight and mixed venues include the Burdekin Hotel, the Exchange Hotel, NV and DCM. So, as strangers greet each other in Sydney, during the celebratory weekend: happy Mardi Gras...