The Australian city of Sydney hosted the LGTBI Mardi Gras fair this Sunday, which includes concerts and food, as part of the WorldPride events being celebrated this year in Australia.

Thousands of people gathered in Victoria Park where the collective’s demand for rights was combined with picnic areas, food and drink stalls and concerts by Carla Wehbe, Mama de Leche, Penelope Pettigrew and The Buoys.

Some participants of all ages carried banners that read “Trans rights are human rights” or “Tamil community supports LGTBIQ+ community”.

Last Friday the WorldPride events began, the international LGTBI (lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, intersex and other) festival which is held periodically in different cities around the world, including Madrid in 2017.

In a statement, organizers said WorldPride 2023 will feature 300 events and have some 500,000 attendees, including 78,000 visitors, between February 17 and March 5.

“WorldPride Sydney will be a sparkling celebration for the global LGBTQIA+ community and a tremendous opportunity for the city,” said Kate Wickett, CEO of WorldPride Sydney.

Highlights include the classic Mardi Gras parade on February 25 and the Sydney Harbor Bridge Pride March on March 5.

WorldPride (World Pride) is an event created by InterPride, an international organization that coordinates Pride Day organizers in different cities, and the first event was held in Rome in 2000.

Since then, WorldPride has taken place in Jerusalem (2006), London (2012), Toronto (2014), Madrid (2017), New York (2019), Copenhagen-Malmö (2021) and in the future it is planned in Washington (2025). ) and Amsterdam (2026).

Sydney has celebrated the LGTBI Mardi Gras parade since 1978, when a march by the group between iconic Oxford Street and Hyde Park was violently suppressed by police.

The name “Mardi Gras” means “Shrove Tuesday” in French and refers to the eve of Ash Wednesday when in Christian tradition meat can still be eaten before Ash Wednesday and Christian Lent, which ends the celebrations of Ash Wednesday. carnival.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Mardi Gras parade in Sydney and also marks the 5th anniversary of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Australia, where until 1984 homosexuality was considered a crime in New South Wales, whose capital is Sydney.

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