Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade 2002

In 2001, I ended up marching in the Mardi Gras parade. When the 2002 parade came along, I wanted to march again, but I knew noone that could get me in. When the day of the parade finally came, I was rather ticked off at not being able to get into it. Seeing the parade from the huge crowds sucks, while getting a behind-the-scenes look at things is so much more exciting.

And so, on the day of the parade, I agreed to go watch it with a few friends. Just before leaving, I figured it would suck too much to be in the crowds, and so I figured out how to get "backstage". It was pretty simple, actually, I wore my "Parade Participant" badge from the year before, went to the blocked off area and waltzed right in past a gang of security and police keeping the lowly viewers out.

I ended up watching the parade from just behind the start line - the best place to watch from. I think that aside from all the strange and amusing sights, the thing I like most about being on the inside is getting to see all of the parade officials organize things. It takes a lot of people to run the parade - float coordinators, start coordinators, security, media officials, each wearing a shirt in an identifying colour. Maybe I should try to get in on running parades....

The Dykes on Bikes.