Adam Lambert is headlining the Sydney Mardi Gras Party 2024
Adam Lambert will be heading up the LGBTQ+ event. (Corine Solberg/Chris Putnam/Future Publishing/Getty Images)
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 2024 has announced the headliners for the 2024 festival.
Adam Lambert will be leading the Mardi Gras Party at the Hordern Pavilion on 2 March at the annual Pride event, with American singer-songwriter Ultra Naté supporting.
The festival will also see Finally singer CeCe Peniston and Aussie singer-come-actor Keiynan Lonsdale taking to The Forecourt stage.
The 10-hour event spans over six venues, while over 50 LGBTQ+ and ally performers will be heading up the festival.
Meanwhile, fans at the Hordern stage will also see artists ONYX, Brett Austin, Patrick Mason (GER), DJ Monki (UK), and Mark Alsop. The Forecourt will also see performers Miss Katalyna, Shigeki and Bobby Blanco, as well as SGT Slick and Ebstar, festival organisers have announced.
The Forecourt will be home to vocal house, pop and nu-disco, while Liberty Hall will see techno, techno-house, world music and electronica gracing the stage. Elsewhere, Watson’s will hear classic divas, disco and throwback hits, while The Big Top will be playing 90s and 00s club classics.
Mary’s EQ and The Entertainment Quarter will be offering festivalgoers food trucks, bars and chill-out zones.
The announcement comes as organisers behind the festival voted to throw out police-run “public decency inspections”.
The internationally-recognised annual LGBTQ+ event, which has been running since 1978, has held a deal with New South Wales police that allowed them to conduct visual inspections on those marching in the parade to “ensure that public decent is not offended.”
The deal, called the Mardi Gras Police Accord, was set up in 2014 to mark an understanding between police and event attendees following allegations of police brutality at the event in 2013.
According to the Mardi Gras Police Accord, a representative from Mardi Gras Sydney would work with a senior police representative to conduct inspections before the parade to ensure that genitals are covered up in public.
It also ensures that Mardi Gras Sydney provides cultural sensitivity training and that organisers have input in police presence at their public events.
But members of Mardi Gras Sydney voted to throw out the Accord at the Mardi Gras Annual General Meeting on 9 December.
Tickets for the Mardi Gras Party are on sale now for $239 plus the booking fee on the Mardi Gras Sydney website.
