Sydney Mardi Gras 2012 Hits the Heights

SYDNEY, March 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and strategic partner Destination NSW have announced they are thrilled with the phenomenal success of this year's Sydney Mardi Gras Festival, Parade and Party, Saturday, March 3rd 2012.

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The 2012 Sydney Mardi Gras Parade can be viewed at http://www.mardigrastv.org.au courtesy of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras digital partner Optus.

Marriage equality crusader Shelly Argent OAM was this year's Chief of Parade and there were more than 9100 participants and 134 floats working their way up the parade route to the thunderous applause and cheers of the hundreds of thousands of people lining the streets.

Among the cavalcade of spectacular floats was Sydney Mardi Gras much anticipated entrant, K25, which saw over 130 dancers pay homage to singer Kylie Minogue and her 25 year career in the music industry. The K25 cast wowed audiences as they danced their way up Oxford Street with elements of the fabulous float made up with Swarovski crystals. The float made a pit-stop at Taylor Square to perform for Minogue who was viewing the parade and eagerly awaiting her namesake float from the Club Tropicana party.

"Kylie's visit is a very special gift to Sydney this year and our K25 float was a way of returning that love back to her," said SGLMG CEO Michael Rolik. "It was just one of a myriad of amazing entrants that made this year's parade one of the most exhilarating we've ever seen. We are a very proud community this morning."

The fantastic Parade judges were Brian Thompson, Gary Carsley and Francesca Zambello and Sydney Mardi Gras was honoured to have such creative talents.

After the last piece of sequins hit the street, tens of thousands of people continued to revel in the Mardi Gras spirit at Mardigrasland - the official Mardi Gras Party held at the Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park.

Selling out at 15,300 tickets, Mardigrasland offered party-goers five highly curated dance spaces spilling over with a diverse range of international and local performing and DJ talent including UK dance legend Chicane, drag superstar RuPaul and Australian electro-popsters Sneaky Sound System.

The evening was crowned with the highly anticipated live performance by Kylie Minogue, which saw the starlet captivate a capacity crowd inside the Royal Hall of Industries (and also beamed live to screens around the Mardiglasland precinct) with an exhilarating medley of her greatest hits. In her first performance at a Mardi Gras Party since 1998, Minogue led a troupe of dancers through a sensational twenty minute show that left the insatiable crowd cheering for more, earmarking another unforgettable chapter in Sydney Mardi Gras' colourful history.

"Over the past three weeks Sydney Mardi Gras has ignited our city with an outstanding array of festival events, a world class Parade and a star-studded Party that is unique to Sydney," said SGLMG Chair, Peter Urmson. "We continue to show the world the rich and wonderfully diverse LGBTQI culture that exists in Australia while promoting equality, acceptance and love on an international scale. We should all be very proud of how brightly Sydney shines during this magical time of year."

As the world's biggest festival of its kind celebrating LGBTQI diversity pulls in record numbers of people to Oxford and Flinders streets to view the parade, including countless international visitors from South America, Europe, USA and UK - to name but a few.

Destination NSW CEO Sandra Chipchase said Sydney Mardi Gras is a perfect platform to showcase Sydney and NSW to the rest of Australia and the world.

"Destination NSW research has found Sydney Mardi Gras attracts more than 20,000 overseas and interstate visitors who come specifically for the event, injecting around $30 million in new money to the State.

"Sydney Mardi Gras also reaches huge media audiences. In previous years it has reached more than 70 million people from interstate and key international tourism markets via press coverage and social media feeds about the event.

"Mardi Gras is a stand out and a unique asset for Sydney and NSW," she said.

The 35th Mardi Gras Parade will take place on 2nd March 2013 and already has mainstay contributors conjuring up ideas for their festival involvement.

SOURCE Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras