Enlarge image
1/8
Everyone is a star at the Mardi Gras parade, celebrated by gay, lesbian and transgender people in Sydney - including Janine Feodroff with her star jewelry.
Photo: PAUL BRAVEN/EPA
Enlarge image
2 / 8
For the 45th time, the parade went down the promenade of Oxford Street in the Australian metropolis.
It was first held in June 1978 to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City.
Photo: JAIMI JOY / REUTERS
Enlarge image
3/8
This year, the highlight of the WorldPride festival is the Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.
This includes around 300 events such as films, exhibitions, drag shows and parades celebrating diversity and acceptance.
The WorldPride festival was first organized in Rome in 2000.
With Sydney it rises for the first time in a city in the southern hemisphere.
Photo: PAUL BRAVEN/EPA
Enlarge image
4 / 8
For the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic, the march took place on the famous Oxford Street with around 12,000 participants.
Hundreds of thousands of onlookers lined the sidewalks from early Saturday evening to experience the spectacle up close.
The broadcaster 9News spoke of a "sea of rainbow flags, glitter and sequins".
Photo: PAUL BRAVEN/EPA
Enlarge image
5/8
The media spoke of a "triumphant return" to Oxford Street.
"There's ten times more glitter, ten times more fun, ten times more excitement," said one participant.
Sydney Mayor Clover Moore said the world came to the metropolis to celebrate equality, justice and acceptance.
»These are really important things to celebrate and we will do it with a lot of glamor and a lot of fun.«
Photo: IMAGO/STEVEN SAPHORE / IMAGO/AAP
Enlarge image
6 / 8
Sydney is considered one of the most tolerant cities in the world and is famous for its gay scene.
The cheerful and spectacular Mardi Gras has been delighting people from all continents for decades - one of the main tourist attractions alongside the opera house seen here in the background.
Photo: Bianca De Marchi / dpa
Enlarge image
7/8
There's still time and space to pose - at the end of the parade, the costumed crowd danced to the song "Celebration" by Australian pop icon Kylie Minogue.
Photo: IMAGO/PAUL BRAVEN / IMAGO/AAP
Enlarge image
8 / 8
A participant in the parade caused a stir without any eccentric clothing: Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is the first holder of this office to have walked in a Mardi Gras parade.
"I'll wear jeans and a T-shirt and I won't even try to compete," he announced that morning.
Photo: STEVEN SAPHORE/EPA
feb/dpa