by Paul Heney
Last updated: 9:38 AM ET, Sun October 16, 2022
The biggest LGBTQ travel event of 2023 is starting in four short months-Sydney WorldPride is scheduled for February 17 to March 5, 2023, coinciding with the city's annual Mardi Gras celebration, which is a huge queer event in its own right.
This will be the first time that WorldPride is being held in Sydney, or anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere, for that matter, making it a hot ticket for the new year.
However, event planners are cautioning LGBTQ travelers that they must get moving if they want tickets to some of the biggest events and parties at WorldPride, such as the much-anticipated opening concert featuring Kylie Minogue, "Live & Proud."
In fact, many of the events are sold out for a la carte purchases, so the only way visitors can fully experience Sydney WorldPride is to book one of several travel packages. These packages are only available for a limited time and are selling fast.
Recent WorldPrides have included Madrid in 2017, New York City in 2019, and Copenhagen, Denmark/Malmö, Sweden in 2021.
This next iteration will be chock-full of exciting events, including Rainbow Republic (a dance party of 20,000 revelers), the city's iconic Mardi Gras Parade (the first one in three years, due to the pandemic), and a Pride March that will cross the city's famed Harbour Bridge. More than 300 events will be part of the official program, including the arts, sporting events, and theater performances. Officials say that 500,000 attendees in all are expected.
A lengthy tour of First Nations rainbow communities has already begun, as part of a plan to better incorporate these voices into next year's iteration of WorldPride.
Rainbows Galore
The city of Sydney is planning on turning itself into a "Rainbow City" for the festivities, with multiple organizations planning free artworks for the general public and visitors to see. These include the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust and the Blue Mountains Scenic Skyway in nearby Katoomba.
The Gardens are planning a 150-foot-long abstract floral rainbow wall that will be made up of 18,000 colorful plants; it claims that this will be one of the largest living green walls in the Southern Hemisphere. The city is joining in on the floral game, too, installing planter boxes and a floral wall, which will incorporate hundreds of plants and foliage arranged into the colors of the rainbow flag.
The University of Sydney will feature a rainbow mural made of LED nights in the evenings at its Camperdown campus. It will mark the 45th anniversary of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in 2023. Planners hope to have a total of 45 artworks as part of Rainbow City, to celebrate those 45 years of Mardi Gras. The city said that a Rainbow City map will be published just before the start of WorldPride, allowing visitors to travel around and see all the various works.
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