The Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras has undergone a facelift and come out on the other side as Sydney Mardi Gras in an effort to rebrand the thirty-three year old festival as an all-inclusive love-in hoping to reconnect with its core audience, members and volunteers. Like all good makeovers, the new name comes with a new ‘infinite love’ logo of two connected hearts and a message that aims to celebrate diversity of all kinds, dubbed ‘the right to be.’
Chairman of Sydney Mardi Gras, Peter Urmson, acknowledged at yesterday’s launch that although the new approach might alienate long-standing supporters of the festival, the Mardi Gras needed to adapt to survive: “We fought for this day, the day we could embrace the wider community and be inclusive. I think that whilst we are first and foremost a GLBTQI community organisation, we also are very open to all of our friends that do not necessarily identify within that alphabet soup.”
The push toward a younger, broader audience and the appeal to renewed interest in the event’s core community aims to turn the event into what Urmson called a celebration “on par with Rio – to be enjoyed by everyone but always remembered as being a gift to the city from its gay and lesbian community.” A gift that this year will include appearances from Trevor Ashley of Hairspray and Liza on an E fame, drag racing extraordinaire RuPaul, the Dame Edna Experience and Sneaky Sound System.
