MARDI GRAS PARADE - HOT BODIES AND GLITTER EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK!
We always hear about the gay pride parades as a platform in fighting for our rights. Which is super important! However today let me speak about the different side of the pride parade - the exciting, fun party while being yourself and being loved for who you are.
In homophobic countries I hear a lot that we should not stand off with all the nudity and glitter. But that’s who we are - there’s nothing wrong about being a colorful personality! Let’s be colorful and let’s party - it’s our day!
Sydney pride parade is like no other. The biggest pride production I’ve ever seen both by the whole organization and by the floats. Leaders of the floats start planing and booking cars, trucks, lights, sound couple months in advance and its not easy - with 200 floats the demand for even the most basic truck is huge!
The other important part is outfits - no joke - designers are working on these and often they are pretty pricey. You’re lucky if your float has a sponsor that will pay for everything, otherwise get ready to spend some money or make the costume yourself, which was exactly what we did. After all you don’t need much - speedos and glitter will do! As our float represented the Burning Man camp called the Glamcocks - we also added finger lights, body lights and whatever lights you can imagine!
There are floats simply walking the whole route, but nobody wants to be that basic - the decent choreography is needed! At least a week of rehearsals is a must, if you do less - trust me - you will be too basic. The whole float has to look stunning (again - glitter helps!) and march/dance up to the standards that are definitely the highest out of all the pride parades.
This year it was raining a lot, so rehearsals were pretty muddy, once we did it in the parking lot under the highway, just to stay dry. That actually happened on our final rehearsal in the morning of the parade. Yes an insane dedication is needed! You begin your day early, stay on your feet the whole day, march and then dance the whole night away. But trust me it’s easier when you’re on that insane adrenalin rush.
Hours and hours before the parade we had to meet somewhere so we can all go together - obviously a bar was the best option - daytime drinking - duh! Being tipsy is also the best times to finalize your outfit and take some photos before it is ruined!
While walking from the bar to the parade holding area we noticed how different the city is - super colorful with so many weirdos dressed in rainbow colors (or hardly dressed at all). I wish Sydney every day was like this!
Holding area is the restricted area for the marching people in the park where all the floats are waiting and thousands of marching boys and girls are rehearsing, chatting, giving interviews, taking pictures, drinking various ‘energy’ drinks. Those few hours are as fun as the whole parade. Much better than standing in streets, holding your spot to watch the parade. I don’t think I’ve ever been in such a group of people (thousands of them) looking so great and being so fun! The one thing I’m sure about - I’ve never seen so much glitter in one place - people are literally pouring kilograms of glitter on their bodies. Including those “masc4masc dudes, who are totally not into sissies”, right…
As soon as it get’s dark the parade commences. One after another the floats walk into the Oxford street dancing, singing and waving to the energized crowd. As soon as our time comes we put on our finger lights, check our speedos, take the places and start marching/dancing.
You instantly feel this amazing energy from the crowd of screaming girls and boys. You are the star! Adrenaline rush doesn’t let you get tired and you give it all. Every single boy in our group delivered 100%. Yes, we messed up many times, but we gave the best show possible. We even got the award for the best choreography! Thank you Michael Brown!
It felt like the whole walk lasted 5 minutes, but in reality around 40 minutes. After the parade I felt totally exhausted, but must have had the biggest smile on my face ever. It’s also a great cardio! I don’t remember sweating that much just by dancing and being sorta sober! Then it was the time for a short rest, shower (all that glitter will not come off easily - give it a few weeks!) and the main Mardi Gras Party.
There is this amazing video to prove everything above - more than 2 million views on Facebook in a week! Not only we gave a live performance for hundreds of thousands parade spectators, we also entertained millions online.
You can always just come to Sydney, take your place at the barricade 5 hours before the parade to be able to watch it from the first row, or you could join some float and be Beyonce for 40 minutes and have a day to remember for the rest of your life! You pick!