Sydney to host WorldPride 2023

Parade entrants poses for the camera in the marshalling area in front of an indigenous flag at the 2016 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has won its bid to host the international marquee pride event, WorldPride 2023.

Members of the worldwide InterPride network of pride organisations voted between Sydney (60 per cent), Montreal (36 per cent) and Houston (three per cent) as the host city for WorldPride 2023.

Sydney WorldPride will be held over February and March to coincide with Mardi Gras 2023, and will be the first time ever WorldPride has been to the Southern Hemisphere and Asia-Pacific region.

This is important, according to Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, as many LGBTQI+ communities within the Asia Pacific are still denied fundamental human rights.

WorldPride represents a major tourism initiative for Australia, with Deloitte estimating 25 to 40 per cent growth in visitors, in addition to the more than one million visitors for Mardi Gras. Sydney will be the first stop, and other regional attractions are expected to see visitation pre and post-event.

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras co-chair Giovanni Campolo-Arcidiaco said: “This is a major win for Sydney, Australia and the region more broadly. Bringing WorldPride Down Under means we can celebrate and shine a spotlight on the unique challenges faced by the LGBTQI community in the region.”

WorldPride committee chair Robyn Kennedy added: “Interpride has recognised how far Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has come since 1978, and now the world will march with us down Oxford Street to celebrate our community and support our region.”

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