🌈 Every Mardi Gras 2027 event in one place. All of the Mardi Gras 2027 events listed so far are on Gay Guide’s Mardi Gras 2027 events page, our guide to what’s on in gay Sydney. See them on a map, save the ones you’re going to, add them to your calendar and find out which friends are going.
Pop-rock duo Rogue Traders and rising pop singer Jett Blyton will perform at Mardi Gras Fair Day in February, part of a 24-day, Hyperbloom-themed festival that also moves Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras' flagship party underground to the tunnels beneath Allianz Stadium.
Fair Day, which opens the 49th festival, will be held at Victoria Park on Sunday, February 14 – Valentine's Day. Rogue Traders will headline and Blyton will also perform, alongside Zipporah, Campbelltown-raised R&B singer Becca Hatch, Brisbane pop-rock band Dizzy Days and Sydney house DJ Kate Monroe. Comedian Bob Downe will host Doggywood.
The Mardi Gras Party will be held on Saturday, March 6, 2027, from 10pm to 6am, beneath the stadium at the end of the parade route, Mardi Gras said in a media release on Thursday. It is being presented with promoters Kicks Entertainment and Bizarro.
The announcement confirms what Gay Sydney News revealed on Wednesday night, after the venue was spotted in Mardi Gras' own public events database ahead of the launch.
That listing had the party running from 9pm to 6am. Thursday's release gives a 10pm start, an hour later.
The database also listed tickets at $179.95, until the price was removed at 10.28pm on Wednesday. Mardi Gras has not yet announced ticket prices, saying ticket information and the line-up would be revealed on Tuesday, November 10. Members can buy party tickets from 11am on Monday, November 9, before the line-up is announced.
"For so many in the queer community, the Mardi Gras Party is where they found their people," Kicks Entertainment and Bizarro director Ryan Sabet said in the release.
"Carrying it into its next chapter, without forgetting where it came from, is an honour we take seriously. This year we’re going somewhere no one has partied before, into the tunnels under Allianz Stadium …"
Mardi Gras said the "reimagined" party would go "deeper, drawing on the underground dance scene and queer club culture that built it", with "collaborations from local producers that centre queer Sydney culture".
The tunnels sit under the $828 million stadium, which opened in August 2022 on the site of the original Sydney Football Stadium. That ground, built in 1988, was demolished in 2019 to make way for the 42,500-seat venue, which has since hosted concerts by Bruno Mars, Elton John and Travis Scott.
Mardi Gras described the tunnels as a "never-before seen venue". Chief executive Jesse Matheson told QNews the idea came on a walk through the building: "We went downstairs, and we said, 'Can we have a party here?'"
Mardi Gras did not say what capacity the tunnels would hold, whether the move was for one year or longer, or what conditions apply to holding an all-night event at the stadium. Asked those questions by Gay Sydney News on Wednesday, a spokesperson pointed to the media release and said Mardi Gras had "no further comment".
The party was cancelled this year, with Mardi Gras citing its financial performance, capacity constraints after losing the Royal Hall of Industries, community feedback and the changing demographics of attendees. It has most often been held at the Hordern Pavilion, which holds up to 5500 people, and the surrounding Moore Park precinct.
Fair Day, parade and a new street fair
The 49th festival runs from February 12 to March 7, 2027.
The parade will travel along Oxford Street, Flinders Street and Anzac Parade on Saturday, March 6. Glitter Club at Taylor Square will get a new tiered viewing deck, and the accessible viewing areas return along Flinders Street.
New to the program is the Rainbow Road Street Fair, a free event on Bourke and Forbes streets on Saturday, February 20, funded through the NSW government's Open Streets Program, with DJs and drag performers.
A new two-year partnership with Inner West Council brings Forever Fierce, an intergenerational party, to Marrickville Town Hall on February 27. Hot Trans Mardi Gras, curated by Dino Dimitriadis with an all trans and gender-diverse line-up, follows on February 28.
The rest of the program
- Laugh Out Proud: Friday, February 19, Enmore Theatre, with Josh Thomas and Tom Sainsbury, hosted by Hannah Conda and Tim Collins.
- Sissy Ball: Saturday, February 20, Sydney Town Hall, in its ninth year.
- Kaftana and Paradiso pool parties: Sundays, February 21 and 28, Jimmy's Rooftop, presented by DJ Dan Murphy.
- Marriage equality reflection: Tuesday, February 23, State Library of NSW, nearly a decade after the 2017 postal survey.
- Mardi Gala Ball: Thursday, February 25, hosted by Courtney Roulston and Khanh Ong.
- Ultra Violet: Friday, February 26, its first year at Carriageworks, headlined by Kučka.
- Queer Art After Hours: Wednesday, March 3, Art Gallery of NSW.
- Rainbow Picnic: Sunday, March 7, Vaucluse House.
- Laneway: Sunday, March 7, The Beresford and Hill Street, headlined by Clementine Douglas, the voice on Calvin Harris' Blessings and Dom Dolla's Miracle Maker.
The Mardi Gras+ program includes Rufus Wainwright performing Want with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Opera House; Act Up at 40 Fight Back, a look at HIV and LGBTQ+ activism, at Qtopia; and Grindr: The Opera.
Festival tickets go on presale to members at 11am on Monday, November 9, and on general sale at 11am on Thursday, November 12.
Coles comes in as principal partner
The release names supermarket group Coles as a new principal partner, presenting the Mardi Gala Ball. American Express ended its Mardi Gras sponsorship mid-contract last year, though its early payments helped Mardi Gras post a 2025 surplus.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the City of Sydney had committed $1.6 million, plus in-kind support, to the festival between 2024 and 2027.
"Hyperbloom is a celebration of everything that makes our communities extraordinary," Matheson said. "It’s about coming together and taking up space to flourish."
Co-chairs Kathy Pavlich and Mits Delisle said the festival recognised "that the fight for equality and inclusion continues" as Mardi Gras looks towards its 50th anniversary in 2028.
Ben Grubb is the founder and editor of Gay Sydney News, an independent publication covering LGBTQIA+ news. A journalist with more than 15 years' experience, he has reported and edited for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, WAToday, Brisbane Times, The Australian Financial Review, News.com.au, ZDNet, TelecomTimes and iTnews, primarily on the topic of technology. He previously hosted The Informer, a queer current affairs program on Melbourne’s JOY 94.9 radio station, and contributes to LGBTQIA+ media including Stun Magazine. Ben has also appeared as a technology commentator on Channel Ten's The Project, ABC RN’s Download This Show and commercial radio stations 2UE, 2GB and 6PR. Contact Ben: [email protected]
