5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Miss Out The Mardi Gras Parade in Sydney

If you happen to be in Sydney around the time of Mardi Gras, you are
a lucky Sydney backpacker and it would be an enormous pity to miss out
of the festivities! Here are some of the reasons that you should make
sure to participate in the Mardi Gras festivities:It's a heap of fun!
At the Mardi Gras, everything is about fun! The politics of being
straight versus being gay will occasionally surface. Yet mostly,
Sydney's LGBT community is just showing the world how they do what
they do best - party! There are flashing lights, colourful costumes,
screams of laughter, and people generally celebrating being alive -
better than any nightclub in the city.It can be an effective history
lessonIt can be so easy to be swept up in the 'present tense', and
forget the struggles that homosexual people have faced in the past...
and continue to face in many parts of the world, including Australia.
The theme for 2010 was The History of the World, with an obvious focus
on gay history. But no matter what year you attend, you're bound to
learn a lot about what life was (and is) like for LGBTs in the
everyday community.Because some very big name music acts often playIn
recent years, there have been quite a few big name acts booked for the
Mardi Gras Post Parade Party. Up to 27,000 people attend every year,
and in the last 20 years, there have been acts booked including:
Kylie
and Dannii Minogue
Human Nature
Boy George
Darren Hayes
Kelly Rowland
Cyndi Lauper
Marcia Hines
Chaka Khan
The Village People!The fireworks showThe parade itself is the
showstopper, and the glittery, sparkly, celebratory atmosphere is
completed with the fireworks display. Fireworks are usually launched
from the tops of adjacent buildings, so rather than a distant,
contained effect, you often get the impression that the entire sky is
filled with tiny sparkles, since you can only see a narrow slice
through the buildings.An opportunity for straight people to show
support of human rightsThe Mardi Gras is all about being gay, but that
definitely doesn't preclude straight people from attending to show
support of the LGBT community, and human rights in general. The more
the merrier... the community is very welcoming, especially in their
biggest week of the year.