Sydney 1999 Mardi Gras
"He looks like what he is... a dungball in a dress..."
February 1999

Well, given that the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is an interesting event that involves some of the most over-the-top, colourful and above all tasteless costumes and floats ever seen I felt I had to go along. As did a hell of a lot of other people.

However after a rash bet with one of the friends I've made over here, I agreed to go in a pink/orange/yellow dress with glitter make up and painted finger nails.

I felt a prat but compared to what some people were wearing I was practically conservative...

Yes, that is me on the left. Dan (the other bloke) agreed to go dressed up as well. However shortly after this was taken and I and the rest of the posse had left for the pub, he bailed on me and got changed and turn up in a shirt and jeans. Git.

However it was a laugh. Oh yes I forgot. For reasons I can't quite remember (probably that one of my friends over here in Australia is Indian) we all went with Bindi's on as well. I think that's the name of them. Those little patterned things that stick just above and between your eyebrows anyway. Ahem.

From left to right, Dawn, Jurgen, Diego, and Nikki. Diego went in a sarong to Mardi Gras. Admittedly he would only do this after copious amounts of alcohol, but he still did it. I think he was already quite drunk by the time this shot was taken before we'd actually left. It's a bit hard for me to tell exactly where this was taken though...

As mentioned elsewhere on this site, one of the problems with my digital camera, as it's not the newest and brightest, is that it doesn't have a flash. Hence some of these shots are a little difficult to make out.

Basically I've done a little work to try and brighten them, but they're still not brilliant. Hopefully they at least provide an impression, but let's face it - you had to be there...

Anyhow, when we'd finally made it into the city (the train ride was interesting) and had a couple at the pub (I needed them), we spent quite a while trying to find a decent view of the Mardi Gras parade, along with pretty much the rest of Sydney.

We eventually got fed up walking somewhere on Oxford Street and "acquired" some crates to stand on. Opposite there was a light show and cameras set up on the awning (see above and to the left) and once it got dark they started up...

As I say, my camera doesn't have a flash and so I tried to time some of the shots with when the lights were pointing in my direction. Unfortunately the main upshot of that was I just wound up with a lot of photos with masses of light and lens flares and that were still pretty useless.

For reasons I don't know one float featured a large inflatable elephant thing, which you can see above. Don't ask me why...

More people below. The atmosphere was very good for the Mardi Gras and despite being dressed like a complete nitwit, anyone who made a comment in my direction was usually along the lines of "Wha-hey Darlin'!". Which I just took as they needed glasses. My parents were a little concerned though when I told them about it on the phone.

One amusing thing as we were trying to find a viewpoint for the parade was a bloke on a corner selling headbands with ears on them. As I wandered past, he called me over and enthusiastically tried to sell me a pair with furry leopard-skin ears on them. Given the they were only three bucks and I was already wearing stuff that really couldn't look much more silly I bought them and sported them for the rest of the night!

You can actually see them being worn by Tim (my Thai flatmate) on our Halloween housewarming page . As previously mentioned, you can see the lighting was not always the best.

Co-ordinated dancing going on above left if you can make it out, and right... err.. suggestions on a postcard?.

Given the colour scheme it looks like a still from a Jerry Bruckheimer film.

So that's it for the 99 Mardi Gras. Next is a trip Sarah, Lucy, Niall and I took to the Blue Mountains.

© Barny Russell 2005