The first Mardi Gras parade in Sydney was held in 1978 to commemorate Stonewall in 1978. It ended with police violence and many arrests. The following year it happened again.
Since then the parade has grown until there are now well over 100 floats with 5000 people participating and over 600,000 people lining the streets and the surrounding buildings to watch the parade. Past parades have brought us Dykes on Bikes, Imelda Marcos' shoes, Fred Nile's head on a platter, Adam and Steve, Gumby, the Marching Boys, the Marching Girls, the Marching Drags, Absolutely Patsy, the Chinese Women's Swimming Team and of course Miss New Zealand. There is something to please or shock everyone.
Pinkboard is located on Oxford St, just west of Whitlam Square, which is where we have aimed the camera. It is set to take a photo every minute. To avoid problems with SGLMG there will be a 10 minute delay before the photos are shown here. So tune in here from about 8pm and reload this page every minute to watch the parade. Chat with others watching the parade on Pinkboard on the Mardi Gras Graffiti Wall. (I hope all this works cause I'm in the parade and won't be able to fix it.)
panther@pinkboard.com.au