Tens of thousands of revellers have already descended on Sydney’s Oxford St to celebrate the 45th annual Mardi Gras.
Crowds are lining the streets of Sydney’s CBD to party alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – the first sitting PM to march in tonight’s parade – for what is expected to be the largest Mardi Gras celebrations ever.
The annual event has returned to Oxford St, with organisers now saying the area is full and others joining should head to Flinders St or ANzac Pde.
The parade is expected to begin at 7.30pm.
More than 200 floats and about 12,500 marchers are expected to parade from Hyde Park to Moore Park celebrating the 2023 theme of Gather, Dream, Amplif.
It will be the first time the famous parade returns to its usual location, after Covid measures forced organisers to hold the event at the Sydney Cricket Ground for the past two years.
The march is being held simultaneously to Sydney WorldPride, which is running over three weeks from February 17 to March 5.
Sydney city will shut its streets at 6pm on Saturday in anticipation of thousands of attendees.
Organisers have advised revellers to view the parade from Flinders St or Anzac Pde as Oxford St is filling up fast.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will also be among the marchers, making him the first Australian prime minister to join in the parade.
“ I’ll be wearing jeans and a shirt, I won’t try and compete,” he said on Saturday.
He will be joined by NSW Labor leader Chris Minns.
The Australian Defence Force will also be sending 60 of its officers to join the parade.
Roads will begin to shut from 2pm and remained closed into the early hours of Sunday morning.
Major streets to close include parts of Flinders St and Anzac Parade, which will shut at 4pm.
Sections of Liverpool St and Oxford St, Crown St and South Dowling St are set to close at 4.30pm.
Streets near Moore Park Rd and Driver Ave will shut from 6.30pm and parts of Elizabeth Set, Castlereagh St and Pitt St will later close at 9pm.
Pedestrian crossings on the parade route will be open on Oxford Street and Flinders Street from 4.30pm until 7pm before it is also completely closed.
Transport NSW has also planned extra trains and buses to operate throughout the event.
Heavy traffic is expected to clog surrounding streets of the CBD.
A team of volunteers — the ACON Rovers — will be dressed in bright pink vests to provide information and a helping hand.
More to come.
