Go to WET DECK this 7 March for Mardi Gras gayness. Why? Because W Brisbane and ENN are making a splash at Mardi Gras weekend with an epic recovery pool party. Complete with drinks, hot bodies and sunshine, it’ll all be happening against the backdrop of phat beats from COLADA by DJ ENN that will be whipping out some seriously fun beats at Brisbane’s hottest pool bar. Go from 2-7pm on 7 March 2021 for only $45. Get your tickets here.
The Darlo in Sydney is redefining what the theatre can be for for audiences and performers. And no time like the present with the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras upon us. Known for removing barriers, the company will be launching ‘Darlo Sessions’ on Friday, 26 February over three weekends to introduce a lush new way to experience Australia’s live music scene. To celebrate, we’re spotlighting the amazing queer and gender-diverse performers involved to celebrate the incredible music that they’re creating. It’s an amazing platform for emerging and established queer and gender-diverse artists to experiment in the iconic space, with each night showcasing two artist performances at 7pm and 9pm, allowing patrons to treat themselves to a specially aligned double bill. Head along to see artists like: JarmarzOnMarz Jamaica Moana DVNA Essie Holt Boy and Bucket Erin Clare Hot Potato Band KYVA imbi Huck Hastings (Album Launch) Brendan Maclean + Jack Colwell Okenyo Banoffee Tickets start from $35 and can be purchased through the Darlinghurst Theatre Company, back up top.
Sydney’s annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is going to take on a different look in 2021. The parade’s put on a new look, the venues are hosting different levels of events (none) and the people won’t be as thick on the ground as they have been over the course of the past 40+ years. But that doesn’t mean you can’t watch the festivities from a safe and semi-responsible distance! Here’s where to get your bookings in to enjoy with friends on a screen in quality venues. Where to watch Mardi Gras in NSWThe Bank Hotel, NewtownThe Bearded Tit, RedfernBitter Phew, DarlinghurstBurdekin Hotel, DarlinghurstCafé Fredas, DarlinghurstThe Colombian Hotel, DarlinghurstDaniel San, ManlyDarlo Bar, DarlinghurstHome The Venue, SydneyHonkas, Potts PointThe Imperial Hotel, ErskinevilleThe Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, WhickhamOxford Hotel, DarlinghurstThe Oxford Tavern, PetershamPalace Hotel, Broken HillLansdowne Hotel, SydneyThe Rainbow Underground, WoonoonaThe Shakespeare Hotel, Surry HillsStonewall hotel, DarlinghurstRex Tamworth and Forum 6 Cinemas, TamworthTaylors Rooftop, SydneyUniversal, DarlinghurstQue Bar, Wagga WaggaThe Wickham Hotel, NewcastleThe Winery, Surry Hills Where to watch Mardi Gras in QueenslandEast Brisbane Bowls Club, East BrisbaneCrystalbrook Flynn, CairnsClub Southport, Southport Where to watch Mardi Gras in VictoriaPiano Bar, BendigoPiano Bar, Geelong For more information on the parade viewing events head to mardigras.org.au
Sydney’s doing Mardi Gras differently this year. No parade officially means no worries; Merivale and Absolut Vodka are stepping-in. Score a package by Merivale – huge Sydney hospitality group – to celebrate pride and diversity in style with a fabulous line-up of drink, dine and stay options on Saturday 6 March. Complete with cocktails, festivities, DJs, drag shows and live entertainment it’s all on offer at some of the group’s most popular venues, like: The Beresford – $95pp There’s nowhere better to have a pre-parade party than The Beresford – Sydney’s iconic destination for the LGBTIQA+ community. Assemble your gang and get into the rhythm of the day with an Absolut Banger cocktail on arrival, before settling in for a three-course brunch and drag show. Also included: ? Three-course set menu ? Live ‘Spice Girls’ drag show ? Live DJ set from DJ Dan Murphy The Paddington – $129pp Kick things off with an Absolut Banger cocktail on arrival, before launching into an absolutely bangin’ shared-style banquet from head chef Ben Greeno. Just a stone’s throw from the SCG, it’s the perfect spot to start your Mardi Gras. Also included: ? Shared banquet dining experience ? Live DJ sets & entertainment Queens Hotel – $129pp Head to Queens Hotel for a pre-parade smorgasbord of delicious Queen Chow favourites and live entertainment to get you warmed up for the big parade. YAS QUEENS! Also included: ? Set menu dining experience ? Live DJ sets & entertainment Bar Totti’s – $139pp With DJs on deck to get… Read More
Because life, Mardi Gras this year will be different. In response to the pandemic and to ensure they’re providing safe spaces for the community to come together, this year’s Mardi Gras festival will look different than it has in the past. Here are four new events to look forward to: LAUGH OUT PROUDFriday 26 February, 2021Enmore TheatreAfter a sold out inaugural event in February 2020, Mardi Gras’ comedy gala is back for a night of belly laughs with Australia’s best and brightest LGBTQI+ comedians. Featuring a stellar line-up of hilarious queer stand-up talent, Laugh Out Proud is Mardi Gras’ comedy event of the year! Hosted by the award-winning Nath Valvo, Laugh Out Proud has loads of comedic talent for one incredible night only – including: Geraldine Hickey, Mel Buttle, Thomas Jaspers, Rosie Piper, Margot Tanjutco, Selina Jenkins, Jake Howie and Jay Wymarra. MY TRANS STORYFriday 26 February, 2021NSW Teachers Federation AuditoriumAt a time when the trans experience is becoming more visible we still rarely see stories by trans and gender diverse people on a screen, in theatres, a bookshelf or in popular culture and when we do, they focus on coming out and surgery or discrimination and hate crimes. From the personal to the political My Trans Story features proud trans and gender diverse storytellers from Sydney and beyond, including Tea Uglow, Andrew Guy plus more to be announced, celebrating their complex, sometimes funny, often fearless, always fierce histories. MY DRAG STORYSaturday 27 February 2021NSW Teachers Federation AuditoriumWith Priscilla, Queen of the Desert stamped on our national identity and Drag Race sashaying across screens there’s no doubt Drag has sunk its six-inch heels into the mainstream. From… Read More
Paris is camp and now the Beresford is serving itself as its rival. Welcome to a Night in Paris at Sydney’s Beresford by Merivale. It’ll be gay. It’ll be colourful. It’ll be new and exciting and it’ll be happening weekly from now. Partnering with Absolut as they’ve done for many Pride activities in the past, they’re proud to present a brand new night of entertainment – A Night in Paris live cabaret show at Upstairs Beresford. The first show went live and sold out within 48 hours! Starring Minnie Cooper, Jacqui St Hyde and Mynx Moscato with the eye candy of Troy and Hayden. Minnie Cooper is very excited to be combing her singing talents with her love of production drag shows. Guests can enjoy an Absolut cocktail on arrival, 3 course meal and 2 half-hour shows, including cabaret, comedy and sex of the Moulin Rouge.Tickets are $65 and can be purchased from the Beresford site.
Sydney’s ivy, right in the heart of town, is hosting a Halloween bash worthy of getting excited about – Halloqween! Yas. A 3-hour jam-packed haunt will serve you a seated service event and show, with food by Totti’s, a costume extravaganza, and red carpet arrivals. It’ll be camp. There will be a full line-up of bloody valentines including drag devils, vampiric vocalists and so many more horrors. First release tickets on sale now from here and include entry, entertainment, inclusive drinks package, two-course meal by Totti’s plus a trick or treat dessert goodie bag.
It was back in 2018 that the girls at the Imperial Erskineville in Sydney’s inner-west brought out their finest foods and roodest ‘toods for the entertainment of a packed room of diners. Then Covid; but now, we’re back! The Imperial Erskineville’s award-winning Priscilla’s restaurant has announced the return of Rood Food, a seductively designed X-Rated menu by head Chef, Christopher Dale Tolcidas. Think: a hen’s night gone wrong in all the right ways. Top quality food, prepared on site – and visibly – paired with a strictly adults-only drag review by the venues industry-renowned queens designed to stimulate your senses and launching on September 25. Think of it as a sensory experience. Emphasis on looks and tastes. As to be expected from dinner and a show that tantalises your tastebuds while delivering a plethora of tongue-in-cheek sexual innuendos performed by a roster of Australia’s leading drag divas. Priscilla’s head Chef, Christopher Dale Tolcidas has gone all out this round, producing dishes like Pussy Paté, Bring Back the Bush and the return of Rood Food favourites, the Panna-Knockers. “I’ve retained what Priscilla’s is best-known for, our plant-based menu and slow-cooked meats, and given the dishes a colourful dressing-up much like our queens,” says head Chef, Christopher Dale Tolcidas. Directed by The Imperial Erskineville’s resident queen, Etcetera Etcetera and starring favourites Peach Fuzz, Dammit Janet, Dakota Fann’ee and Riot, the nightly stage production consists of a three-part line up including an Uber Eats drag delivery spoof, a self-saucing dinner party, and an erect banana-themed number topped by… Read More
Workplace sexual harassment is a serious and widespread issue. The #MeToo movement has brought it to the public’s attention, which is certainly helpful. Anyone can face discrimination or sexual harassment at work. However, disproportionate targeting over the years has long been a reality for the LGBTQ community when it comes to workplace sexual harassment. A community member whose sexual predilections are common knowledge might be a target, and those situations can be tough to deal with for the individual. Here are some workplace sexual harassment aspects about which the LGBTQ community should be aware. It Can Happen Anywhere Workplace sexual harassment can happen in any field. LGBTQ military members face it frequently. Other areas where it can be an issue include: In a nutshell, no industry is safe from this problem, so it can pop up in virtually any workplace scenario. LGBTQ individuals choose to face this in different ways and one of those might be securing the help of a legal person, like from Dhillon Law. Some of them never address what is going on, fearing retribution or job loss. Others report what’s happening to HR or they go higher up the corporate ladder. Still, others feel so pressured that they leave to pursue another work situation. You can’t be terminated for sexual preference or gender identity A landmark case just decided by the Supreme Court guaranteed protections to LGBTQ individuals. Now, there is protection from job termination for people who are: This victory, coming during Pride Month, is terrific news for the cause. Going forward, it seems as… Read More
Gay or not, we’re all bored and we all love a camp night out. Poof Doof to the rescue. From Sydney, the weekly gay-splosion from Sydney’s ivy right in the middle of the city will take to your screens at home, bringing you the best of gay Australia right to your living room. It will live stream the iconic LGBTQI+ club night from ivy this Saturday 2 May, bringing the fierce, fabulous and forward-thinking funhouse of dance into living rooms across Australia. Dance icons Sneaky Sound System will headline the extravaganza, joined by host Jimi The Kween and an epic lineup of local LGBTQI+ DJs including Sveta, Troy Beman, James Alexandr, and drag artists Danni Issues, Hannah Conda and Faux Fur. Saturday’s performance at ivy is the latest instalment of POOF DOOF Direct, a new series of live streams that have taken the iconic club night online. Since the lockdown restrictions were implemented in March, the legendary party masters have been entertaining 30,000 viewers each week with the fiercest mix of house and techno at home. POOF DOOF arrived in Sydney for a new weekly residency at ivy last November. It is the biggest nightclub of its kind in Australia, with a global reputation for keeping dance floors future-forward, inclusive and unashamedly queer. POOF DOOF Direct Sydney will be streamed from 9pm AEST on POOF DOOF’s Facebook, Twitch and YouTube channels.
