The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras organisation says a perfect storm of factors have placed it in a vulnerable position financially as it prepares to cut costs and consider what events it puts on for a leaner 2025 festival season.
It comes as a City of Sydney council motion revealed the true extent of Mardi Gras’ precarious financial position and as it was revealed that the NSW government this year delivered the organisation a $1.1 million rescue package and brought forward grant agreements to keep it afloat.
“Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Ltd had a total projected deficit of $1,095,000 as of June 2024,” the City of Sydney motion, uploaded to the city’s website on Monday, said. “Included in this, it is estimated that $300,000 was due to a loss in anticipated revenue from Fair Day.
“Based on the financial information provided by Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Ltd, the
NSW government agreed to bring forward 2023/24 grant agreement payments to improve
cashflow during the 2024 festival period.”
The motion said an additional $1.1 million in funding was required to ensure that the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Ltd “could continue to deliver the entire 2024 festival”.
“The NSW government provided a $1.1 million rescue package,” the City of Sydney motion publicly revealed for the first time. “They have asked if the City of Sydney would cover half, which comes to $550,000.”
The City of Sydney motion asks councillors to agree to the $550,000 payment.
“If Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Ltd is not supported by this recovery package there is a risk the organisation will no longer be able to deliver its events and festivals to support this important community,” background information included in the motion states.
The motion also asks councillors to approve a variation to the City of Sydney’s existing grant agreement to bring forward payment of the existing 2024/25 grant to Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in full by July 1 this year. “conditional upon receiving the acquittal report from the 2024 festival and a full independent financial and operational audit for ongoing operations”.
In June 2023, the council approved a grant to Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for the next four years (2024-2027) of $1.6 million, comprising $1.36 million cash and $283,104 value in kind.
This included an additional $100,000 in cash funding each year (for four years) as a contribution towards the cycleway safety treatment for the Mardi Gras parade and remediation of damage to City of Sydney parks during the Mardi Gras festival events.
Mardi Gras emails members
In an email to members on Monday afternoon, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras described the current difficulty of running a festival in Australia.
Unlike the City of Sydney motion, the email did not state any figures to do with its financial position.
“Rising operational costs paired with the weak Australian dollar and a cost of living crisis has presented immense challenges to institutions that already operate on very lean margins, with many major festivals being forced to cancel,” the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras email to members said.
“Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has not been immune to these pressures. Our timeline in budgeting, planning, launching tickets and delivering our 46th festival saw a challenging environment grow more and more difficult. The crisis impacting arts, culture and major events is significant.”
In 2024, Mardi Gras had to cancel Fair Day, its main opportunity to raise donations, due to asbestos being found in mulch at Victoria Park. It also had to cancel a talkfest it had planned, and had only 5825 people attend the Bondi Beach Party, which had a capacity for 15,000 attendees.
“The mix of external forces, cost of living rises and an industry in crisis formed a ‘perfect storm’ of factors that has placed Sydney Mardi Gras in a vulnerable position financially, ” Mardi Gras said, adding that it is “taking all available steps to cut costs and to plan for a community focussed festival in 2025”.
“Careful consideration will need to be made about the events and experiences we provide in 2025,” it said.
“However, over our 46-year history, and after working through the lockout laws … and as one of the only pride organisations in the world to ensure that we held our parade through the pandemic, we are an organisation who is familiar with perseverance and resilience.
“With the 2024 festival behind us, and as we plan for a leaner 2025, Sydney Mardi Gras will continue to work closely with our government partners in responding to the challenges faced by the major events and festival industry.”
Mardi Gras said its relationships with its partners remained strong.
“We are grateful to our partners who have supported us and our communities through challenging times,” it said.
Editor’s note: Ben Grubb is a Sydney Mardi Gras member for venue discount purposes only.
Gay Sydney News editor