Dispelling the rumours about Sydney WorldPride
Written by Jordan Davies
Despite gays having ties to literally every organisation in the world, the quality and quantity of mistruths about the upcoming WorldPride event have been spreading like Monkeypox was supposed to. It’s impossible to crack a beer or pop a popper without hearing a slightly different version of who’s in charge of what and how the event will work. But today, that ends.
Thanks to actual, verified research, all the most common misconceptions have now been cleared up, including the official name of the event, the parties involved, and the ~actual~ parties involved.
To be fair, there shouldn’t have been this level of confusion to begin with, so I’d love to give a big shout out to the dream team at Re Design/ M&C Saatchi for their stellar communication work… Keep reaching for the stars, guys.
From the top…
What do we call it:
This year, the event is officially called Sydney WorldPride. And please note, WorldPride is one word.
Why:
Usually Sydney hosts The Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras (informally known as Gay Christmas), which features the usual string of events: Fair Day, the Parade and Afterparty, Sissy Ball and Laneway.
The difference this year is that WorldPride, a separate, global company offering big, gay events every few years in different cities around the world (kinda like the Olympics or ‘The White Lotus’) is coming to beef things up. They’re adding their massive roster of gay shit to the local Mardi Gras festival making it 17-day long string of events, including sports concerts, actual concerts, and other cultural things usually with “queer” in the title.
To be clear: they are not in competition with each other. They’re working together, which means anyone performing at a WP event can absolutely perform at a traditional MG party. Doesn’t mean they will, but wouldn’t it be lit if Kylie and Nicole get together for a little Don’t Cha Come Into My World or Better The Jai Ho You Know at the Afterpary?!
Speaking of which…
The Afterparty headline act has been confirmed.
MG and WP have not run out of money to pay for an act. And, as above, they’re not fighting over talent because of exclusivity contracts.
It’s simply hasn’t been announced yet. So, just chill your jockstraps for a few moments more.
But please continue to speculate over who it’ll be.
Other things worth knowing:
The Parade is gonna be held on Oxford Street again, so start hitting up your mates in the area for viewing parties.
Surry Hills traffic will be a disastrous K-Hole between 24 Feb and 5 March as a bunch of streets will be closed down for the Pride Villages, including Oxford Street on the closing weekend. But it does mean (legally) drinking in the streets mid-week.
Arq’s gonna be open pretty much every night, and Saturday-based Poof Doof at Kinselas is opening on 4 Feb (until the straight plague find us again), which means even if you’re not going to a Sydney WorldPride event, doesn’t mean you can’t pick up at one of the everyday slums (at a fraction of the price).
If there are any additional questions or concerns floating around your group threads, please feel free to share them and we’ll get some answers for you.